
.L3 



L3 
opy 1 



t Congress, ) 

3d Session. J 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



f Document 
1 No. 899. 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



FARMERS' BULLETIN 391. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT 
IN THE HOME. 



BY 



C. F. LANGWORTHY, Ph. D., 

Expert in Charge of Nutrition Investigations, 
Office of Experiment Stations, 



CAROLINE L. HUNT, A. B., 

Expert in Nutrition, 
Office of Experiment Stations. 



[Corrected April 5, 1910.] 




WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 

1910. 



41484—10 



.ETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

Office of Experiment Stations, 

Washington, D. C, January 31, 1910. 

Sir: The widespread interest in the most satisfactory and most economical 
ways of preparing meat for the table has led to the preparation, in accordance 
with your suggestion, of the accompanying summary of information on the 
cheaper cuts of meat and inexpensive meat dishes, which I have the honor to 
submit and recommend for publication as a Farmers' Bulletin. 

For many years the relative nutritive value and ease and thoroughness of 
digestion of the different kinds and cuts of meat, the relative losses sustained 
when meat of different kinds is cooked in various ways, the proportion of meat 
used in American homes, and similar questions have been studied as a part of 
the nutrition investigations of the Office of Experiment Stations. The nutritive 
value of meat has been studied in connection with experiments with the respira- 
tion calorimeter devised by the Office, and additional work along such lines is 
being carried on. This apparatus is of great importance in the study of nutri- 
tion problems, as it permits the measurement of many factors with an accuracy 
not hitherto attainable. Furthermore, dietary studies under typical conditions 
in different parts of the country have given data of great practical importance, 
while general data have been compiled regarding the whole question of the use 
of meat as food. The information thus secured and the results of tests espe- 
cially undertaken for the purpose have been used in preparing the present 
bulletin. Recipes collected from many sources have been tested, and the at- 
tempt has been made to present the material in such a way that it may illus- 
trate the principles of meat cookery for the home table. 

The production of meat has always been one of the principal subjects which 
have engaged the attention of the Department of Agriculture, agricultural 
colleges, and experiment stations, while the safeguarding of the meat supply 
by inspection is one of the very important functions of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry of the Department of Agriculture. The present bulletin has been 
prepared with a view to supplementing this work by pointing out the ways to 
use this important agricultural product when it reaches the home. 

The bulletin was prepared by C. F. Langworthy, expert in charge of nutrition 
investigations, and Miss Caroline L. Hunt, who has had wide experience in the 
study of scientific and practical problems of nutrition. The recipes were col- 
lected from many sources and with few exceptions were studied experimentally 
by Miss Hunt. 

Acknowledgment should be made to teachers of home economics in agricul- 
tural colleges and other educational institutions and to housekeepers and others 
who have supplied recipes and other data of great value in preparing the 
bulletin. 

Respectfully, A. C. True, - 

Director. 

Hon. James Wilson, 

Secretary of Agriculture. 
2 



: JUN 18 1910 



o 



CONTENTS 



Page, 

Introduction 4 

Value of meat as food 4 

Proportion of different cuts and their rela- 
tion to meat prices 6 

Apparent and actual cost of meat in 

different cuts 7 

Texture and flavor of meat 9 

General methods of preparing meat for the 

table 10 

Reducing the expense for meat in the 

diet 12 

Lessening the amount of meat used 13 

Buying in quantity for home use 13 

Utilizing the fat, bone, and trimmings 

in meats and left-over cold meats 14 

Trying out fat 14 

Clarifying fat 14 

Savory drippings 14 

Uses for bones 14 

Methods of extending the flavor of meat. . . 15 
Use of dumplings and similar prepara- 
tions 15 

Meat stew with dumplings 15 

Ragout of mutton with farina balls. 16 

Meat pies and similar dishes 16 

Twelve o'clock pie 16 

Meat and tomato pie 16 

Meat and pastry rolls 17 

Meat turnovers 17 

Meat with macaroni and other starchy 

materials 17 

Turkish pilaf 17 

Meat cakes 17 

Stew from cold roast 17 

Meat with beans 17 

Mexican beef 18 

Haricot of mutton 18 

Roast pork with cowpeas 18 

Meat salads 18 

Meat with eggs 18 

Roast beef with Yorkshire pud- 
ding 19 

Corned-beef hash with poached 

eggs 19 

Ham and poached eggs with cream 

sauce 19 



Page. 
Methods of extending the flavor of meat- 
Continued. 

Stuffing or forcemeat 19 

Mock duck 19 

Mock wild duck 19 

Veal or beef birds 20 

Utilizing the cheaper cuts of meat in pala- 
table dishes 20 

Prolonged cooking at low heat 20 

Stewed shin of beef 20 

Boiled beef with horse-radish sauce. 20 

Scotch broth 21 

Stuffed heart 21 

Braised beef, pot roast, and beef a la 

mode 21 

Bean-pot roast 21 

Hungarian goulash 21 

Casserole cookery 21 

Casserole roast 22 

Casserole or Italian hash 22 

Meat cooked with vinegar 22 

Sour beef 22 

Sour beefsteak 22 

Pounded meat 22 

Farmer stew 22 

Spanish beefsteak 23 

Chopped meat 23 

Tough portions of porterhouse steak . 23 

Hamburg steak 23 

Savory rolls 24 

Cannelon of beef 24 

Filipino beef 24 

Mock rabbit 24 

Veal loaf 25 

Developing and improving flavor of meat . 25 

Retaining natural flavor 25 

Round steak on biscuits 25 

Flavor of browned meat or fat 25 

Salt pork with milk gravy 26 

Fried salt pork with codfish or "si It- 
fish dinner" 26 

Flavoring vegetables, herbs, spices, etc. 26 

India curry 27 

Curry of veal 27 

Sauces 28 

Mock venison 28 

Summary 28 

3 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 



INTRODUCTION. 

Owing to its wide range of climate and soil the United States produces the 
staple foods in great variety and abundance, as well as many of those which 
are usually termed " luxuries." For this and for other reasons the problem of 
selecting an ample and pleasing diet is a simpler one than in many countries 
where food materials are less plentifully produced. 

The foods used to give variety to the diet vary with time, place, and cir- 
cumstances, but the staple foods the country over are cereal grains and their 
products, meat, dairy products, eggs, and the more usual vegetables and fruits. 
According to the results of a large number of carefully conducted studies in 
American homes, it appears that meat and poultry supply 16 per cent of the 
total food material, 30 per cent of the protein, and 59 per cent of the fat in the 
average American dietary; dairy products, IS per cent of the total food, 10 
per cent of the total protein, 26 per cent of the total fat, and 4 per cent of the 
total carbohydrates: cereals and their products, 31 per cent of the total food 
material, 43 per cent of the total protein, 9 per cent of the total fat, and 62 
per cent of the total carbohydrates; and vegetables and fruits together, 25 per 
cent of the total food, 9 per cent of the total protein, 2 per cent of the total fat, 
and 16 per cent of the total carbohydrates. These figures indicate clearly the 
relation which the principal agricultural products must of necessity bear to 
home problems. The utilization of these staple foods to the best advantage 
is of great importance to every housekeeper. 

Many problems connected with the nutritive value of these staple agricultural 
products, their preparation for the table, digestibility, pa latability, and the hygienic 
and economic aspects of the question have been studied in connection with the 
nutrition investigations of the Office of Experiment Stations. The laboratory 
work, which has been very extended and which has included experiments with 
the respiration calorimeter, has yielded results of great practical value as well as 
of scientific importance. The results of these experimental studies are brought 
together in this discussion of the economical use of meat in the home. 

VALUE OF MEAT AS FOOD. 

Considering the fact that meat forms such an important part of the diet and 
the further fact that the price of meat, as of other foods, has advanced in recent 
years, it is natural for housekeepers to seek more economical methods of pre- 
paring meat for the table, and to turn their thoughts toward the less expensive 
cuts and ask what economy is involved in their use, how they may be prepared, 
and whether the less expensive dishes are as nutritious and as thoroughly and 
easily digested as the costlier ones. 

The value of meat as food depends chiefly on the presence of two classes of 
nutrients. (1) protein or nitrogenous compounds, and (2) fat. The mineral 
matter it contains, particularly the phosphorus compounds, is also of much 
importance, though it is small in quantity. Protein is essential for the con- 
struction and maintenance of the body and both protein and fat yield energy 
for muscular power and for keeping up the temperature of the body. Fat is 
especially important as a source of energy. It is possible to combine the fat 
and protein of animal foods so as to meet the requirements of the body with 
such materials only, and this is done in the Arctic regions, where vegetable 
food is lacking; but in general it is considered that diet is better and more 
wholesome when, in addition to animal foods, such as meat, which is rich in 
proteins and fats, it contains vegetable foods, which are richest in sugar, 
4 



ECONOMICAL. USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 



starch, and other carbohydrates. Both animal and vegetable foods supply 
the mineral substances which are essential to body growth and development. 
In meat mineral matter constitutes about 0.3 to 1.9 per cent on an average of 
the total fresh material. 

The composition of the various cuts of meat and similar topics have been 
discussed in more detail in an earlier bulletin of this series. a The general 
differences between the various cuts are shown in the following table : 

Average composition of edible portion of different cuts of meat. 



Kind of meat. 


Water. 


Protein. 


Fat. 


Ash. 


Fuel 
value per 
pound. 


Beef: 


Per cent. 
54.6 
66.8 
59.3 
60.0 
66.3 
57.0 
67.8 
70.3 
62.2 
71.3 
53.6 
58.2 

66.5 
50.7 


Per cent. 
15.8 
19.0 
19.6 
21.9 
20.7 
17.8 
20.9 
21.4 
18.8 
20.2 
16.2 
17.6 

18.9 
16.4 


Per cent. 
28.5 
13.4 
21.1 
20.4 
12.7 
24.6 
10.6 
,8.1 
18.8 
8.1 
29.8 
23.1 

13.0 
32.0 


Per cent. 
0.9 
1.0 

.9 
1.0 
1.0 

.9 
1.1 

.9 

.9 
1.0 

.8 
1.1 

1.0 
.9 


Calories. 
1,495 




920 


Flank 


1,255 




1,270 




920 


Ribs 


1,370 




835 


Shank 


740 


Side 


1,145 




715 




1,560 




1,300 


Pork: 


900 




1,655 







It will be noted that the difference between the cuts is chiefly in the amount 
of the fat and consequently in the fuel value. So far as the proteins are con- 
cerned, i. e., the substances which build and repair the important tissues of 
the body, very little difference is found in the items included in the table, the 
maximum being 21.9 in porterhouse steak and the minimum 15.8 in brisket of 
beef, a range which is not especially significant when the total quantity of meat 
protein in the ordinary diet is taken into account. For all practical everyday 
purposes, therefore, it may be considered that the protein obtained from a given 
weight of meat differs very little either with the kind of meat or the cut. The 
fattest portions of pork, which are used for salt pork or cured pork and bacon, 
are exceptions, and in such cuts the proteins may be as low as 8 or 9 per cent. 

This general uniformity in proportion of protein makes it easy for the 
housekeeper who does not wish to enter into the complexities of food values 
to make sure that her family is getting enough of this nutrient. From the 
investigations carried on in the Office of Experiment Stations the conclusion 
has been drawn that of the total amount of protein needed every day, which 
is usually estimated to be 100 grams or 3* ounces, 6 one-half or 50 grams is taken 
in the form of animal food, which of course includes milk, eggs, poultry, fish, 
etc., as well as meat. The remainder is taken in the form of bread and other 
cereal foods and beans and other vegetables. The portion of cooked meat which 
may be referred to as an ordinary " helping," 3 to 5 ounces (equivalent to 34 to 
5J ounces of raw meat), may be considered to contain some 19 to 29 grams of 
protein, or approximately half of the amount which is ordinarily secured from 
animal food. An egg or a glass of milk contains about 8 grams more, so the 
housekeeper who gives each adult member of her family a helping of meat 
each day and eggs, milk, or cheese, together with the puddings or other dishes 
which contain eggs and milk, can feel sure that she is supplying sufficient 
proteiu, for the remainder necessary will be supplied by bread, cereals, and 
other vegetable food. 

The food value of any material of course depends upon the amount of its 
nutrients which the digestive organs can make available for the use of the body 
as well as upon its chemical composition; hence digestibility must be considered 



°U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 34. 



' One ounce equals 28 grams. 



6 ECONOMICAL. USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

in comparing different kinds of food. The question whether the cheaper cuts 
prepared by the longer method are as thoroughly and as easily digested as the 
better cuts broiled or roasted has been satisfactorily answered by work which 
has been done as part of the nutrition investigations of the Office of Experi- 
ment Stations." The results obtained show that, so far at least as present 
knowledge is concerned, there is practically no difference between the various 
cuts of meat or the meats from different animals with respect to either the 
thoroughness or the ease with which they are digested. Over 95 per cent of 
the protein and of the fat of all kinds and cuts of meat is digested by the 
body under normal conditions, which means that meat is a very thoroughly 
assimilated food and that there are no marked differences in the thoroughness 
with which different sorts are digested. The experimenters say: "It is com- 
monly said that meats of different sorts vary decidedly in digestibility; for 
instance, that red meat is less digestible than white meat, or pork than beef, or 
that a cheaper cut is less digestible than a tender steak. As regards the thor- 
oughness of digestion, the results of the extended series of tests reported show 
that such differences do not exist in any appreciable degree and that meat of 
all kinds and cuts is to be classed with the very digestible foods." Therefore, 
those who wish to use the cheaper cuts need not feel that in so doing their 
families are less well nourished than by the more expensive meats. 

PROPORTION OF DIFFERENT CUTS AND THEIR RELATION TO 

MEAT PRICES. 

The price which the producer receives for the animal he has fattened for 
market must of necessity be a determining factor in fixing the price of meat 
which the consumer pays. The producer's price varies with a variety of con- 
ditions, including the cost of grain used in feeding animals, the rates of trans- 
portation, and other factors. The animal is usually marketed by the producer 
at so much a pound on the basis of live weight or of dressed weight. From 
the results of a large number of experimental tests at the agricultural experi- 
ment stations and data recorded by abattoirs and packing houses, the relation 
of dressed to live weight has been ascertained, the dressed weight in the case 
of beef animals being on an average 60 to 65 per cent of the live weight. The 
number and kind of cuts into which the dressed carcass is divided vary some- 
what in different markets, though there is a greater tendency to uniformity in 
the United States than was once the case. In general, the cuts correspond to the 
anatomical structure of the animal and to the character of the muscular tissue. 

The agricultural experiment stations in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Illinois, 
and most of the other States have studied a variety of problems connected with 
the production of farm animals for market and have contributed much data of 
interest in connection with such problems. On the basis of investigations like 
those referred to, it has been found that on an average in the case of beef 
animals the ribs constitute 9 per cent of the total dressed weight, the loins 19 
per cent, the chucks (with shoulder, neck, and brisket) 27 per cent, the plates 
13 per cent, the shanks 3 per cent, the rounds (including rump) 23 per cent, 
the flanks 3 per cent, and the suet 3 per cent. 

The muscular tissue which has been most concerned in the muscular work 
which the animal has performed is less tender than that which has been less 
used and differences in flavor are also influenced by similar causes. It 
naturally follows, therefore, that the different cuts of meat are not con- 
sidered equally desirable; consequently, when cut up by the market man, the 
different cuts sell for a variety of prices. 

In commercial transactions some percentage of advance in the selling over the 
buying price must be expected if the dealer is to be successful, and such factors 
as the cost of handling, storing, marketing, and possible deterioration during 

°U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Expt. Stas. Bids. 141, 162, and 103. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 



storage must be taken into account. The relation of such factors to particular 
cases is of fundamental importance in understanding commercial transactions. 

The simplest method of fixing market prices would doubtless be to deter- 
mine upon a reasonable percentage of increase which would be the same for 
all cuts. Such a custom has been followed in many localities. For instance, 
it was at one time the common practice in markets in Cuba and Mexico, 
particularly in small towns, to sell the whole carcass at a uniform price per 
pound, a custom still followed, but which does not long survive in a locality 
much influenced by outside conditions. In the United States, as every one 
knows, the price varies with the kind of meat and with the cut. 

When the wholesale dealer buys meat from the producer he pays a certain 
uniform price per pound for the carcass on the basis of eitber live or dressed 
weight. In determining upon the advance over cost price, which is to be his 
selling price, it is customary to take into account the fact that the carcass is 
made up of a number of cuts and that some of them are considered more 
desirable than others and will therefore sell for a higher price. So it is a 
common custom to assume that the more desirable cuts have cost a higher price 
and that the less sought after cuts have cost a lower price than the uniform 
price which was actually paid per pound for the carcass. In other words, 
the wholesaler distributes his original total cost in a manner convenient from 
a commercial standpoint for making selling prices. Thus, as an illustration, 
if the carcass which was purchased at a uniform price of 10 cents per pound 
be assumed to supply 10 pounds of some choice cut aud 10 pounds of some 
cheaper cut, the assumption might be made that the choice cut cost 15 cents 
per pound and the cheaper cut 5 cents per pound, without changing the total 
sum paid for both at the assumed uniform purchase price. 

The table following, which is based upon a considerable amount of data 
collected in connection with Department of Agriculture work, summarizes 
information of this sort and shows the estimated cost to the wholesaler of the 
different cuts of beef when the carcass is purchased dressed at a uniform 
price ranging from 4| to S cents per pound. In distributing the total cost 
the weight of the different cuts is of course taken into account. 

Estimated cost to the wholesaler of different cuts when the carcass is purchased 
at certain prices per pound, dressed weight. 



Assumed sale 






Estimated cost of cut. 






price per pound 






























of carcass. 


Ribs. 


Loins. 


Chucks. 


Plates. 


Shanks. Rounds. 


Flanks. 


Suet. 


Cents. 


Cents. 


Culls. 


Cents. 


Cents. 


Cents. 


( ( ats. 


Cents. 


Cents. 


■il 


7 


8 


3h 


2| 


2 


4', 


3 


3 


5 


7i 


9 


4 


3 


2 


5 


3 


3 


5i 


7| 


9i 


4 


3i 


2 


5 


3 


3 


5i 


8 


10 


4 


:u 


2 


5 


3 


3 


5i 


8JS 


10J 


H 


3* 


2 


5} 


3 


3 


6 


9 


11 


l{ 


3* 


2 


5-2 


3 


3 


»'»i 


9£ 


12 


■i'i 


3i 


2 


5J 


3 


3 


^ 


10" 


12.V 


4j 


3J 


2 


H 


3 


3 


7 


11 


14" 


5 


3| 


2 


r>l 


3 


3 


n 


12', 


15 


H 


3i 


2| 


(i ', 


3 


3 


8" 


14 


16 


5i 


4 


3 


6J 


4 


4 



It is upon such data as the above table presents that the retail prices of meat 
are based theoretically, though of course many other factors, which vary with 
circumstances, must also be taken into account. 



APPARENT AND ACTUAL COST OF MEAT IN DIFFERENT CUTS. 

The relative retail prices of the various cuts usually bear a direct relation 
to the favor with which they are regarded by the majority of persons, the 
juicy tender cuts of good flavor selling for the higher prices. When porter- 
house steak sells for 25 cents a pound, it may be assumed that in town or 
village markets round steak would ordinarily sell for about 15 cents, and chuck 



s 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 



ribs, one of the best cuts of the forequarter, for 10 cents. This makes it 
appear thai the chuck ribs are less than half as expensive as porterhouse 
steak and two-thirds as expensive as the round. But apparent economy is not 
always real economy, and in this case the bones in the three cuts should be 
taken Into account. Of the chuck ribs, more than one-half is bone or other 
materials usually classed under the head of "waste" or "refuse." Of the 
round, one-twelfth is waste, and of the porterhouse one-eighth. In buying 
the chuck, then, the housewife gets, at the prices assumed, less than one-half 
pound of food for L0 cents, making the net price of the edible portion 22 cents 
a pound; in haying round, she gets eleven-twelfths of a pound for 15 cents, 
making the net value about 163 cents; in buying porterhouse, she gets seven- 
eighths of a pound for 25 rents, making the net value about 283 cents a pound. 
The relative prices, therefore, of the edible portions are 22, 1(U, and 28i 
cents; or to put it in a different way, a dollar at the prices assumed will buy 
■11 pounds of solid meat from the cut, known as chuck. pounds of such meat 
from the round, and only '.)l pounds of such meat from the porterhouse. To 
this should be added the fact that because of the way in which porterhouse 
is usually cooked no nutriment is obtained from the bone, while by the long 
slow process by which the cheaper cuts, except when they are broiled or fried, 
are prepared the gelatin, fat, and flavoring material of the bone are extracted. 
The bones of meats that are cooked in water, therefore, are in a sense not all 
refuse, for they contain some food which may be secured by proper cookery. 

It is true, of course, that the bones of the steaks may be used for soup making, 
and that the nourishment may thus be utilized, but this must be done by a 
separate process from that of cooking the steak itself. 

The facts discussed above are shown for a larger number of kinds of meat in 
the following table, which gives the proportion of bone and edible material in 
a number of cuts, together with the net price as compared with an assumed 
original price. As the cost of meat varies in different regions, in different 
markets, and at different times, it is impossible to give values which will rep- 
resent a fair average market price. Those included in the table are simply 
selected to illustrate the point under consideration. 

Xct cost of edible portion of different cuts as compared with assumed market 

/trice " per pound. 



Kind of meat. 



Proportion 
of bone 
or waste 
in cut. 



Proportion 
of edible 
material 
in cut. 



Assumed 
market 

price per 
pound. 



Net price 

per pound 

of edible 

portion. 



Beef: 

Brisket 

Rump 

Flank 

Chuck rib 

Porterhouse 

Neck 

Ribs 

Round 

Shin 

H cart 

Tongue 

Veal: 

Cutlets 

Breast 

Mutton: 

Leg 

(hops 

Forequarter cut for stewing 

Pork: 

Loin 

Salt pork 

on 

Ham 

a Prices vary greatly in different parts of the country 
it possible to compare nominal with net prices. 



Per cent. 
23.3 
19.0 

5.5 
53.8 
12.7 
31.2 
20.1 

8.5 
38.3 

5.9 
26.5 

3.4 
24.5 

17.7 
14.8 
21.2 

19.3 
8.1 



Per cent. 
76.7 
81.0 
99.5 
46.2 
87.3 
68.8 
79.9 
91.5 
61.7 
94.1 
73.5 

96.6 
75.5 

82.3 
85.2 

78.8 

80.7 
91.9 
91.3 

87.8 



Cents. 

7.0 
10.0 

7.0 
10.0 
20.0 

7.0 
15.0 
15.0 

3.0 

5.0 
22.0 

20.0 
12.5 

15.0 
15.0 
12.5 

15.0 
12.5 
20.0 
20.0 



Cents. 



9.0 
12.5 

7.5 
22.0 
23.0 
10.0 
20.0 
16.0 

5.0 

5.3 
29.8 

21.0 
17.0 

18.0 
17.5 
20.0 

20.0 
13.0 
22.0 
23.0 



These prices are assumed for the purpose of making 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 9 

TEXTURE AND FLAVOR OF MEAT. 

Although meats vary greatly in the amount of fat which they contain and to 
a much less degree in their protein content, the chief difference to be noted 
between the cheaper and more expensive cuts is not so much in their nutritive 
value as in their texture and flavor. All muscle consists of tiny fibers which 
under the microscope are seen to have the form of tubes. These fibers are 
tender in young animals and in those parts of older animals in which there has 
been little muscular strain. Under the backbone in the bind quarter is the 
place from which the tenderest meat comes. This is usually called the tender- 
loin. Sometimes in beef and also in pork it is taken out whole and sometimes 
it is left to be cut up with the rest of the loin. In old animals, and in those 
parts of the body where there has been much muscular action, the neck and 
the legs for example, the muscle fibers are tough and hard. But there is 
another point which is of even greater importance* than this. The fibers of all 
muscle are bound together in bundles and in groups of bundles by a thin mem- 
brane which is known as connective tissue. This membrane if heated in water 
or steam is converted into gelatin. The process goes quickly if the meat is young 
and tender ; more slowly if it is tough. Connective tissue is also soluble in 
acetic acid, that acid to which the sourness of vinegar is due. For this reason 
it is possible to make meat more tender by soaking it in vinegar or in vinegar 
and water, the proportions of the two depending on the strength of the vinegar. 
Sour beef or " sauer fleisch," as it is known to Germans, is a palatable dish of 
this sort for which the recipe is given elsewhere. (See p. 22.) Since vinegar 
is a preservative this suggests a method by which a surplus of beef may be 
kept for several days and then converted into a palatable dish. 

In a study of factors which influence tenderness, Lehmann " and his asso- 
ciates measured experimentally the relative tenderness of raw meat of different 
kinds and cuts from old and young animals, the effect of hanging and freezing 
upon tenderness, and also the effects of cooking. According to his summary, 
the toughness or tenderness of the individual meat fibers is a matter of the 
location of the cut, and his measurements showed that the raw fibers from an 
exterior cut (flank) were almost two and a half times as tough as those from an 
interior cut (tenderloin). 

In the case of veal, the two sorts of cuts showed the same general differences 
as beef, but in a greater degree. The muscle fibers of mutton and pork, accord- 
ing to the experimental data which Lehmann cites, were in general more tender 
than beef. 

Flavor in meat depends mainly on certain nitrogenous substances which 
are called extractives because they can be dissolved out or "extracted" by 
soaking the meat in cold water. The quality of the extractives and the result- 
ing flavor of the meat vary with the condition of the animal and in different 
parts of its body. They are usually considered better developed in older than 
in very young animals. Many persons suppose extractives or the flavor they 
cause are best in the most expensive cuts of meat; in reality, cuts on the side 
of beef are often of better flavor than tender cuts, but owing to the difficulty 
of mastication this fact is frequently not detected. The extractives have little 
or no nutritive value in themselves, but they are of great importance in caus- 
ing the secretion of digestive juices at the proper time, in the right amount, 
and of the right chemical character. The digestive tract may lie likened to a 
piece of machinery which is beautifully built and adjusted and is ready to 
run and turn out its product as soon as a lever is moved which sets it in motion. 
The flavoring bodies of food, and especially those contained in meat, can be 
likened to the lever which sets the machinery in motion. Excitants to normal 
digestion are supplied by other foods as well, but meats, so physiologists 
believe, are especially important for the purpose. It is this quality which 

"Areli. Ilyg., 63 (1907), p. 134. 
41484 — H. Doc. 899, Gl-2 2 



10 ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

justifies the taking of soup at the beginning of a meal and the giving of broths, 
meat extracts, and similar preparations to invalids and weak persons. These 
foods have little nutritive material in themselves, but they are great aids to 
the digestion of other foods. 

The amount of the extractives which will be brought out into the water 
when meat is boiled depends upon the size of the pieces into which the meat 
is cut and on the length of time they are soaked in cold water before being 
heated. A good way to hinder the escape of the flavoring matter is to scar 
the surface of the meat quickly by heating it in fat, or the same end may In- 
attained by plunging it into boiling water. Such facts are known to all cooks 
and have recently been studied systematically at the Illinois Experiment Sta- 
tion in relation to the amounts removed and the losses which may be involved 
in different methods of cookery- Such solubility is taken advantage of in 
making beef tea at home and in the manufacture of meat extract, the extracted 
material being finally concentrated by evaporating the water. 

GENERAL METHODS OF PREPARING MEAT FOR THE TABLE. 

The advantages of variety in the methods of preparing and serving arc to be 
considered even more seriously in the cooking of the cheaper cuts than in the 
cooking of the more expensive ones, and yet even in this connection it is a 
mistake to lose sight of the fact that, though there is a greal variety of dishes, 
the processes involved are few in number. 

An experienced teacher of cooking, a woman who has made very valuable 
contributions to the art of cookery by showing that most of the numerous 
processes outlined and elaborately described in the cook books can be classified 
under a very few heads, says that she tries "to reduce the cooking of meat 
to its lowest terms and teach only three ways of cooking. The first is the 
application of intense heat to keep in the juices. This is suitable only for 
portions of clear meat where the fibers are tender. By the second method the 
meats are put in cold water and cooked at a low temperature. This is suitable 
for bone, gristle, and the toughest portions of the meat, which for this purpose 
should be divided into small bits. The third is a combination of these two 
processes and consists of searing and then stewing the meat. This is suitable 
for halfway cuts, i. e., those that are neither tender nor very tough." The 
many varieties of meat dishes are usually only a matter of flavor and garnish. 

In other words, of the three processes the first is the short method; it aims 
to keep all the juices within the meat. The second is a very long method 
employed for the purpose of getting all or most of the juices out. The third 
is a combination of the two not so long as the second and yet requiring so much 
time that there is danger of the meat being rendered tasteless unless certain 
precautions are taken such as searing in hot tat or plunging into boiling water. 

It is commonly said that the cooked meat fibers are harder or less tender 
than the raw, which seems a natural assumption since the meat protein, like 
egg albumen, is coagulated by beat, and furthermore, the water is forced out 
from the individual muscle libers and they are shortened and thickened by the 
application of heat. Apparently, however, such general deductions must be 
modified on the basis of the experimental data obtained in Lehmann's " labora- 
tory, for he found marked differences in this respeel between the interior cuts 
of beef, of which tenderloin is a typical example, and exterior cuts such as Hank. 
When beef flank was cooked by boiling for two hours, the toughness of the fibers 
greatly increased during the first half hour of the cooking period, and then 
diminished so that at the end of the cooking period the meat was found to lie in 
about the same condition with respect to toughness or tenderness of the libers as 
at the beginning. On the other hand, in the case of the tenderloin, there was a 
decrease in toughness of the fibers throughout the cooking period which was 



"Arch. Hyg., G3 (1907), p. 134. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 11 

particularly marked in the first few minutes of cooking, and at the end of the 
cooking period the meat fibers were only half as tongh as before cooking. 

A good idea of the changes which take place while meat is being cooked can 
be obtained by examining a piece of flesh which has been " cooked to pieces." 
as the saying goes. In this the muscular fibers may be seen completely sep- 
arated one from another, showing that the connective tissue has been destroyed. 
It is also evident that the fibers themselves are of different texture from those 
in the raw meat. In preparing meat for the table it is usual to stop short of 
the point of disintegration, but while the long process of cooking is going on the 
connective tissue is gradually softening and the libers are gradually changing 
in texture. The former is the thing to be especially desired, but the latter is 
not. For this reason it is necessary to keep the temperature below the boiling 
point and as low as is consistent with thorough cooking, for cooks seem agreed, 
as the result of experience shows, that slow gentle cooking results in better 
texture than is the case when meat is boiled rapidly. This is the philosophy 
that lies back of the simmering process. 

When meat is cooked by roasting, broiling, or any other similar process the 
moat juices brown with the fat, producing substances which to most of us are 
agreeable to the senses of smell and taste alike. When meats are cooked in 
hot water such highly flavored substances are not so evident to the sense of 
smell, but nevertheless bodies of agreeable flavor which are perceptible to the 
palate are developed in the meat during the cooking process. 

The question of the amount and character of the ingredients which escape from 
the meat and other changes occurring in it during cooking is too complicated to 
be discussed in detail here. Much careful experimenting along these lines has 
been done in experiment station and other laboratories." and the results show 
that the losses vary considerably with the method of cooking employed, being of 
course greatest where small pieces of meat are subjected to prolonged cooking. 

Among the principal conclusions drawn from the experiments referred to are 
the following: The chief loss in weighl when meat is cooked is due to the 
driving off of water. When beef is cooked by pan broiling—that is. searing in 
a hot, greased pan, a common cooking process — no great loss of nutrition results, 
particularly if the fat and other substances adhering to the pan are utilized in 
the preparation of gravy. When beef is cooked by boiling, there is a loss of 
3 to 20 per cent of material present, though this is not an actual loss if the 
broth is utilized for soup or in some similar way. Even in the case of meat 
which is used for the preparation of beef tea or broth, the losses of nutritive 
material are apparently small though much of the flavoring matter has been 
removed. The amount of fat found in broth varies directly with the amount 
originally present in the meat: the fatter the meat the greater the quantity 
of fat in the broth. The loss of water in cooking varies inversely with the 
fatness of the meat: that is. the fatter the meat the smaller the shrinkage due 
to loss of water. In cooked meat the loss of various constituents is inversely 
proportional to the size of the cut. In other words, the smaller the piece of 
meat the greater the percentage of loss. Loss also appears to be dependent 
somewhat upon the length of time the cooking is continued. When pieces of 
meat weighing 1* to 5 pounds are cooked in water somewhat under the boiling 
point there appears to be little difference in the amount of material found in 
broth whether the meat is placed in cold water or hot water at the beginning 
of the cooking period. When meat is roasted in the oven the amount of ma- 
terial removed is somewhat affected by the character of the roasting pan and 
similar factors, thus the total loss in weight is naturally greater in an open 
than in a closed pan as the open pan offers more opportunity for the evapora- 
tion of water. Judging from the average results of a considerable number of 
tests it appears that a roast weighing 6 pounds raw should weigh 5 pounds 

« U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Buls. 34, 162, p. 9, and 193, p. 29 ; also Office of Expt. Stas. 
Bui. 141. 



12 ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

after cooking, or in other words the loss is about one-sixth of the original 
weight. This means that if the raw meat costs 20 cents per pound the cooked 
would represent an increase of 4 cents a pound on the original cost; but this 
increase would of course be lessened if all the drippings and gravy are utilized. 
With the quantities used in the ordinary home the relative losses sustained in 
different methods of cooking meat are not great enough to be of particular 
importance with reference to economical management. However, in public 
institutions where a small saving per day for each inmate represents a large 
item in the course of a year, it may be desirable to select methods involving 
the least loss, which would mean that the advantage would lie with stewing 
and boiling rather than with broiling and roasting, so far as the relative losses 
of material are concerned. The relative economy of different methods of cook- 
ery depends very greatly upon the kind of fuel, the form of stove and oven, 
and other similar factors. These vary so much under different home conditions 
that it is difficult to draw general deductions though the subject has often been 
investigated. However, it may be said that is often possible to effect a 
saving if the housewife can so plan the cooking of meat and othei- foods as to 
take full advantage of the heat supplied by the fuel used. 

REDUCING THE EXPENSE FOR MEAT IN THE DIET, 

The expense for meat in the home may be reduced in several ways, and each 
housekeeper can best judge which to use in her own case. From a careful con- 
sideration of the subject it appears that the various suggestions which have 
been made on the subject may be grouped under the following general heads: 
Economy in selection and purchase so as to take advantage of varying market 
conditions; purchasing meat in wholesale quantities for home use; serving 
smaller portions of meat than usual or ' using meat less frequently; careful 
attention to the use of meat, bone, fat, and small portions commonly trimmed 
off and thrown away and the utilization of left-over portions of cooked meat; 
and the use of the less expensive kinds. 

The choice of cuts should correspond to the needs of the family and the 
preferences of its members. Careful consideration of market conditions is also 
useful not only to make sure that the meat is handled and marketed in a sani- 
tary way but also to take advantage of any favorable change in price which may 
be due, for instance, to a large local supply of some particular kind or cut of 
meat. In towns where there is opportunity for choice, it may sometimes be 
found more satisfactory not to give all the family trade to one butcher; by 
going to various markets before buying the housekeeper is in a better position 
to hear of variations in prices and so be in a position to get the best values. 
Ordering by telephone or from the butcher's boy at the door may be less eco- 
nomical than going to market in person as the range of choice and prices is of 
course more obvious when the purchaser sees the goods and has a chance to 
observe market conditions. Each housekeeper must decide for herself whether 
or not the greater convenience compensates for the smaller range of choice which 
such ordering from description entails. No matter what the cut, whether expen- 
sive or cheap, it can not be utilized to the best advantage unless it is well cooked. 
Poorly prepared meat dishes are almost inevitably wasted at the table. As an 
illustration of the losses arising through unwise selection and poor cooking may 
be mentioned facts observed in dietary studies carried on by the Office of Experi- 
ment Stations. In many families where the income was fairly good the table and 
other conditions were far from satisfactory. In such cases the marketing was 
quite commonly done by a child or someone without knowledge or experience. 
In a particular instance the selection was expensive steak, which later was so 
badly cooked that it was hardly possible to eat it. A cheaper cut well cooked 
would have been much more satisfactory as well as more economical. 

There is sometimes an advantage in using canned meat and meat products, 
and, if they are of good quality, such products ai*e wholesome and palatable. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 13 

That economy is furthered by careful serving at table is obvious. If more 
meat is given at each serving than the person wishes or habitually eats the 
table waste is unduly increased. Economy in all such points is important and 
not beneath the dignity of the family. 

In rural regions both in the United States and in Europe farmers sometimes 
cooperate in the maintenance of slaughterhouses and storehouses, thus making 
it easier to obtain fresh meat in hot weather. In a " meat club " ° in this 
country, which was said to be successful, the members took turns in providing 
animals (lambs or heifers) for the slaughtering which was dune in a special 
shed on three Saturdays of each month. The meat was distributed among the 
members according to a system previously agreed on, the different cuts going 
to the different members in rotation. A fixed price per pound was agreed on 
at the beginning of the season and at the end of the season accounts were 
balanced according to the weight of the animals provided by and of the cuts 
supplied to each member. Such a plan seems capable of extension to meet a 
variety of conditions, particularly in rural regions. 

Various other phases of the question of lessening the expense for meat in 
the home are discussed in the following sections. 

LESSENING THE AMOUNT OF MEAT USED. 
In many American families meat is eaten two or three times a day; in such 
cases the simplest way of reducing the meat bill would very likely be to cut 
down the amount used, either by serving it less often or by using less at a time. 
Deficiency of protein need not be feared when one good meat dish a day is 
served, especially if such nitrogenous materials as eggs, milk, cheese, and beans 
are used instead. In localities where fish can be obtained fresh and cheap, it 
might well be more frequently substituted for meat for the sake of variety as 
well as economy. Ingenious cooks have many ways of " extending the flavor " 
of meat, that is, of combining a small quantity with other materials to make a 
large dish, as in meat pies, stews, and similar dishes. Such dishes and their 
preparation are spoken of elsewhere. (See p. 15.) 

BUYING MEAT IN QUANTITY FOR HOME USE. 
By buying in large quantities under certain conditions it may be possible to 
procure meat at better prices than those which ordinarily prevail in the retail 
market. The whole side or quarter of an animal can frequently be obtained 
at noticeably less cost per pound than when it is bought cut by cut, and can 
be used to advantage when the housekeeper understands the art and has 
proper storage facilities and a good-sized family. When a hind quarter of mut- 
ton, for example, comes from the market the flank (on which the meat is thin 
and, as good housekeepers believe, likely to spoil more easily than some other 
cuts) should be cooked immediately, or if preferred it may be covered with 
a thin layer of fat (rendered suet) which can be easily removed when the time 
for cooking comes. The flank, together with the rib bone, ordinarily makes 
a gallon of good Scotch broth. The remainder of the hind quarter may be used 
for roast or chops. The whole pig carcass has always been used by families 
living on the farms where the animals are slaughtered, and in village homes; 
town housekeepers not infrequently buy pigs whole and " put down " the meat. 
An animal months old and weighing about 100 pounds would be suitable 
for this purpose. The hams and thin pieces of belly meat may be pickled and 
smoked. The thick pieces of belly meat, packed in a two-gallon jar and 
covered with salt or brine, will make a supply of fat pork to cook with beans 
and other vegetables. The tenderloin makes good masts, the bead and feet 
may go into head cheese or scrapple, and the trimmings and other scraps of 
lean meat serve for a few pounds of homemade sausage. In some large families 
it is found profitable to " corn " a fore quarter of beef for spring and summer 

"Breeder's Gaz., 53 (1908), p. 232. 



14 ECONOMICAL, USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

use. Formerly it was a common farm practice to dry beef, but now it seems 
to be more usual to purchase beef which has been dried in large establishments. 

The general use of refrigerators and ice chests in homes at the present 
time has had a great influence on the length of time meat may be kept and so 
upon the amount a housewife may buy at a time with advantage. 

Pickling, smoking, and other methods of curing meat for home use has been 
discussed in an earlier bulletin in this series. 

The preservation of meat and meat products by canning is a matter of great 
importance, but it is almost wholly a commercial enterprise, as the difficulties 
in the way of successfully canning meat in the home are many. 

UTILIZING THE FAT, BONE, AND TRIMMINGS IN MEATS, AND THE LEFT- 
OVER COLD MEATS. 

In the percentage of fat present in different kinds and cuts of meat, a greater 
difference exists than in the percentage of proteids. The lowest percentage of 
fat shown in the table on page 6 was 8.1 per cent in the shank of beef; the 
highest was 32 per cent in the pork chops. The highest priced cuts, loin and 
ribs of beef, contain 20 to 25 per cent. If the fat of the meat is not eaten at 
the table, and is not utilized otherwise, a pecuniary loss results. If butter is 
the fat used in making crusts for meat pies, and in preparing the cheaper cuts, 
there is little economy involved ; the fats from other meat should therefore be 
saved, as they may be used in place of butter in such cases, as well as in pre- 
paring many other foods. The fat from sausage or from the soup kettle, or 
from a pot roast, which is savory because it has been cooked with vegetables, is 
particularly acceptable. Sometimes savory vegetables, onion, or sweet herbs 
are added to fat when it is tried out to give it flavor. 

Some illustrations of methods of preparing such cooking fats follow : 

Trying out Fat. 

A double boiler is the best utensil to use in trying out small portions of fat. There 
is no danger of burning the fat and the odor is much less noticeable than if it is heated in 
a dish set directly over the fire. 

Clarifying Fat. 

Excepting where the purpose of clarifying fat is to remove flavors, a good method to 
follow is to pour boiling water over the fat, to boil thoroughly, and then to set it away 
to cool. The cold fat may be removed in a solid cake and any impurities clinging to it 
may be scraped off, as they will be found at the bottom of the layer. By repeating this 
process two or three times a cake of clean, white fat may be obtained. 

A slight burned taste or similar objectionable flavors often can be removed from fat by 
means of potatoes. After melting the fat, put into it thick slices of raw potato ; heat 
gradually. When the fat ceases to bubble and the potatoes are brown, strain through a 
cloth placed in a wire strainer. 

Savory Drippings. 

When rendering the drippings of fat meat, add a small onion (do not cut it), a few 
leaves of summer savory and thyme, a teaspoonful of salt, and a little pepper. This is 
enough for a pint of fat. Keep the drippings covered and in a cool place. 

Uses for Bones. 
Almost any meat bones can be used in soup making, and if the meat is not 
all removed from them the soup is better. But some bones, especially the rib 
bones, if they have a little meat left on them, can be grilled or roasted into very 
palatable dishes. The " sparerib " of southern cooks is made of the rib bones 
from a roast of pork, and makes a favorite dish when well browned. The 
braised ribs of beef often served in high-class restaurants are made from the 
bones cut from rib roasts. In this connection it may be noted that many of the 
dishes popular in good hotels are made of portions of meat such as are frequently 
thrown away in private houses, but which with proper cooking and seasoning 
make attractive dishes and give most acceptable variety to the menu. An old 
recipe for "broiled bones" directs that the bones (beef ribs or sirloin bones on 

U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 183. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 15 

which the meat is not left too thick in any part) be sprinkled with salt and 
pepper (Cayenne), and broiled over a clear fire until browned. Another example 
of the use of bones is boiled marrow bone. The bones are cut in convenient 
lengths, the ends covered with a little piece of dough over which a floured cloth 
is tied, and cooked in boiling water for two hours. After removing the cloth 
and dough, the bones are placed upright on toast and served. Prepared as above, 
the bones may also be baked in a deep dish. Marrow is sometimes removed 
from bones after cooking, seasoned, and served on toast. 

Trimmings from meat may be utilized in various " made dishes," of which 
examples will be given further on, or they can always be put to good use in 
the soup kettle. It is surprising how many economies may be practiced in 
such ways and also in the table use of left-over portions of cooked meat if 
attention is given to the matter. Many of the recipes given in this bulletin 
involve the use of such left-overs. Others will suggest themselves or may be 
found in all the usual cookery books. 

METHODS OF EXTENDING THE FLAVOR OF MEAT. 

Common household methods of extending the meat flavor through a con- 
siderable quantity of material which would otherwise be lacking in distinctive 
taste are to serve the meat with dumplings, generally in the dish with it, to 
combine the meat with crusts, as in meat pies or meat rolls, or to serve the 
meat on toast and biscuits. Borders of rice, hominy, or mashed potatoes are 
examples of the same principles applied in different ways. By serving some 
preparation of flour, rice, hominy, or other food rich in starch with the meat 
we get a dish which in itself approaches nearer to the balanced ration than 
meat alone and one in which the meat flavor is extended through a large 
amount of the material. 

Throughout the bulletin the measurements given in the recipes call for a 
level spoonful or a level cupful, as the case may be. 

USE OF DUMPLINGS AND SIMILAR PREPARATIONS. 

A number of recipes for meat dishes made with dumplings and similar preparations 
follow : 

Meat Stew with Dumplings. 

STEW. 

5 pounds of a cheaper cut of beef. I onion, cbopped. 

4 cups of potatoes cut into small pieces. I cup of flour, 

i cup each of turnips and carrots cut into Salt and pepper, 
i-inch cubes. 

Cut the meat into small pieces, removing the fat ; try out the fat and brown the meat 
in it. When well browned, cover with boiling 'water, boil for five minutes and then 
cook in a lower temperature until the meat is done. If tender, this will require about 
three hours on the stove or five hours in the tireless cooker. Add carrots, turnips, 
onions, pepper, and salt during the last hour of cooking, and the potatoes fifteen minutes 
before serving. Thicken with the flour diluted with cold water. Serve with dumplings 
(see below). If this dish is made in the fireless cooker, the mixture must be reheated 
when the vegetables are put in. Such a stew may also be made of mutton. If veal 
or pork is used the vegetables may be omitted or simply a little onion used. Sometimes 
for variety the browning of the meat is dispensed with. When white meat, such as 
chicken, veal, or fresh pork, is used, the gravy is often made rich with cream or milk 
thickened with flour. The numerous minor additions which may be introduced give the 
great variety of such stews found in cookbooks. 

DUMPLINGS. 

2 cups flour. | i teaspoonful salt. 

4 teaspoonfuls baking powder. 2 teaspoonfuls butter. 

§ cup milk or a little more if needed. 

Mix and sift the dry ingredients. Work in the butter with the tips of fingers, add 
milk gradually, roll out to a thickness of one-half inch and cut with biscuit cutter. 
In some countries it is customary to season the dumplings themselves with herbs, etc.. 
or to stuff them with bread crumbs fried in butter instead of depending upon the gravy 
to season them. 



16 ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

A good way to cook dumplings is to put them in a buttered steamer over a kettle of 
hot water. They should cook from twelve to fifteen minutes. If it is necessary to 
cook them with the stew, enough liquid should be removed so that they may be placed 
upon the meat and vegetables. 

Sometimes the dough is baked and served as biscuits over which the stew is poured. 
If the stew is made with chicken or veal it is generally termed a fricassee. 

Ragout of Mutton with Farina 3alls. 



\\ pounds neck of mutton cut into small 

pieces. 
1 tablespoonful butter. 
1 tablespoonful flour. 
1 onion. 
1 carrot, 
i can peas. 

FARINA BALLS 



2 cups hot water. 
1 teaspoonful salt. 
1 teaspoonful pepper. 
1 bay leaf. 
Sprig parsley. 
1 clove. 



\ cup farina. 

1 cup milk. 

\ teaspoonful salt. 



i teaspoonful pepper. 
Onion juice. 
Yolk 1 egg. 



Put butter in frying pan. When melted add flour and brown. Add carrot and 
onion, cut in dice. Remove vegetables and add meat, searing well. To meat and 
vegetables add hot water and seasonings. Put in a suitable kettle, cover and simmer 
two hours. Add peas ten minutes before serving in a dish with farina balls made as 
follows : 

Cook farina and milk in double boiler one hour. Add seasoning and well-beaten yolk. 
Stir well and cool. When cold roll into balls. Dip in egg and crumbs and fry in deep 
fat. Rice may be used in a similar way. 

MEAT PIES AND SIMILAR DISHES. 

Meat pies represent another method of combining flour with meat. They 
are ordinarily baked in a fairly deep dish the sides of which may or may not 
be lined with dough. The cooked meat, cut into small pieces, is put into the 
dish, sometimes with small pieces of vegetables, a gravy is poured over the meat, 
the dish is covered with a layer of dough, and then baked. Most commonly the 
dough is like that used for soda or cream-of-tartar biscuit, but sometimes 
shortened pastry dough, such as is made for pies, is used. This is especially 
the case in the fancy individual dishes usually called patties. Occasionally 
the pie is covered with a potato crust in which case the meat is put directly 
into the dish without lining the latter. Stewed beef, veal, and chicken are 
probably most frequently used in pies, but any kind of meat may be used, or 
several kinds in combination. Pork pies are favorite dishes in many rural 
regions, especially at hog-killing time, and when well made are excellent. 

If pies are made from raw meat and vegetables longer cooking is needed 
than otherwise, and in such cases, it is well to cover the dish with a plate, 
cook until the pie is nearly done, then remove v the plate, add the crust, and 
return to the oven until the crust is lightly browned. Many cooks insist on 
piercing holes in the top crust of a meat pie directly it is taken from the oven. 

Twelve O'clock Pie. 

This is made with shoulder of mutton, boiled w r ith carrot and onion, then cut up, mixed 
with potatoes separately boiled and cut up, and put into a baking dish. The crust is 
made by mixing smoothly mashed potatoes to which a tablespoonful of shortening has been 
added, with enough flour and water to make them roll out easily. A pie made of a pound 
of meat will require 5 or 6 small boiled potatoes, a cupful of mashed potatoes, and 8 or 10 
tablespoonfuls of flour, and should be baked about twenty minutes in a hot oven. Salt, 
pepper, and other seasoning, as onion and carrot, may be added to taste. A teaspoonful 
of baking powder makes the crust lighter. 

Meat and Tomato Pie. 

This dish presents an excellent way of using up small quantities of either cold beef or 
cold mutton. If fresh tomatoes are used, peel and slice them ; if canned, drain off the 
liquid. Place a layer of tomato in a baking dish, then a layer of sliced meat, and over the 
two dredge flour, pepper, and salt ; repeat until the dish is nearly full, then put in an 
extra layer of tomato and cover the whole with a layer of pastry or of bread or cracker 
crumbs. When the quantity of meat is small, it may be " helped out " by boiled potatoes 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 17 

or other suitable vegetables. A few oysters or mushrooms improve the flavor, especially 
when beef is used. The pie will need to be baked from half an hour to an hour according 
to its size and the heat of the oven. 

Meat and Pastry Rolls. 

Small quantities of cold ham, chicken, or other meat may be utilized for these. The 
meat should be chopped fine, well seasoned, mixed with enough savory fat or butter to 
make it " shape," and formed into rolls about the size of a finger. A short dough (made, 
say, of a pint of flour. 2 tablespoonfuls of lard, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder, salt, and 
milk enough to mix) should be rolled thin, cut into strips, and folded about the meat rolls, 
care being taken to keep the shape regular. The rolls should be baked in a quick oven 
until they are a delicate brown color and served hot. 

Meat Turnovers. 
Almost any kind of chopped meat may be used in these, and if the quantity on hand is 
small may be mixed with potato or cooked rice. This filling should be seasoned to taste 
with salt and pepper, onion, or whatever is relished, and laid on pieces of short biscuit 
dough rolled thin and cut into circles about the size of an ordinary saucer. The edges 
of the dough should be moistened with white of egg, the dough then folded over the meat, 
and its edges pinched closely together. If desired, the tops of the turnovers may be 
brushed over with yolk of egg before they are placed in the oven. About half an hour's 
baking in a hot oven is required. Serving with a brown sauce (see p. 28) increases the 
flavor and moistens the crust. 

MEAT WITH MACARONI AND OTHER STARCHY MATERIALS. 
Macaroni cooked with chopped hain, hash made of meat and potatoes or meat 
and rice, meat croquettes — made of meat and some starchy materials like bread 
crumbs, cracker dust, or rice — are other familiar examples of meat combined 
with starchy materials. Pilaf, a dish very common in the Orient and well known 
in the United States, is of this character and easily made. When there is soup 
or soup stock on hand it can be well used in the pilaf. 

Turkish Pilaf. 
\ cup of rice. I 1 cup stock or broth. 

1 cup of tomatoes stewed and strained. 3 tablespoonfuls of butter. 

Cook the rice and tomatoes with the stock in a double boiler until the rice is tender, 
removing the cover after the rice is cooked if there is too much liquid. Add the butter 
and stir it in with a fork to prevent the rice from being broken. A little catsup or chili 
sauce with water enough to make three-quarters of a cup may be substituted for the 
tomatoes. This may be served as a border with meat, or served separately in the place of 
a vegetable, or may make the main dish at a meal, as it is savory and reasonably nutritious. 

Meat Cakes. 

1 teaspoonful chopped onion. 



1 pound chopped veal. 
\ pound soaked bread crumbs. 

2 tablespoonfuls savory fat or butter. 



1J teaspoonfuls salt. 
Dash of pepper. 



Mix all the ingredients except the butter or fat and shape into small round cakes. Melt 
the fat in a baking pan and brown the cakes in it, first one side and then the other. 
Either cooked or raw veal may be used. In the case of raw meat the pan should be 
covered so that the heat may be retained to soften the meat. 

Stew from Cold Roast. 

This dish provides a good way of using up the remnants of a roast, either of beef or 
mutton. The meat should be freed from fat, gristle, and bones, cut into small pieces, 
slightly salted, and put into a kettle with water enough to nearly cover it. It should sim- 
mer until almost ready to break in pieces, when onions and raw potatoes, peeled and 
quartered, should be added. A little soup stock may also be added if available. Cook 
until the potatoes are done, then thicken the liquor or gravy with flour. The stew may 
be attractively served on slices of crisp toast. 

MEAT WITH BEANS. 

Dry beans are very rich in protein, the percentage being fully as large as that 
in meat. Dry beans and other similar legumes are usually cooked in water, 
which they absorb, and so are diluted before serving; on the other hand, meats 
by the ordinary methods of cooking are usually deprived of some of the water 
originally present — facts which are often overlooked in discussing the matter. 
Nevertheless, when beans are served with meat the dish is almost as rich in 
protein as if it consisted entirely of meat 



18 ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

Pork and beans is such a well-known dish that recipes are not needed. Some 
cooks use a piece of corned mutton or a piece of corned beef in place of salt or 
corned pork or bacon or use butter or olive oil in preparing this dish. 

In the Southern States, where cowpeas are a common crop, they are cooked 
in the same way as dried beans. Cowpeas baked with salt pork or bacon make 
an excellent dish resembling pork and beans, but of distinctive flavor. Cow- 
peas boiled with ham or with bacon are also well-known and palatable dishes. 

Recipes are here given for some less common meat and bean dishes. 

Mexican Beef. 

The Mexicans have a dish known as "Chili con carne " (meat with Chili pepper), the 
ingredients for which one would doubtless have difficulty in obtaining except in the 
southwestern United States. However, a good substitute for it may be made with the 
foods available in all parts of the country. The Mexican recipe is as follows : 

Remove the seeds from two Chili peppers, soak the pods in a pint of warm water until 
they are soft, scrape the pulp from the skin and add to the water. Cut two pounds of 
beef into small pieces and brown in butter or drippings. Add a clove of garlic and the 
Chili water. Cook until the meat is tender, renewing the water if necessary. Thicken 
the sauce with flour. Serve with Mexican beans either mixed with the meat or used as 
a border. 

In the absence of the Chili peppers, water and Cayenne pepper may be used, and 
onions may be substituted for garlic. For the Mexican beans, red kidney beans either 
fresh or canned make a good substitute. If the canned beans are used they should be 
drained and heated in a little savory fat or butter. The liquid may be added to the 
meat while it is cooking. If the dried beans are used they should be soaked until soft, 
then cooked in water until tender and rather dry, a little butter or dripping and salt 
being used for seasoning or gravy. White or dried Lima beans may be used in a similar 
way. 

Haricot of Mutton. 



li pounds of lean mutton or lamb cut into 
2-inch pieces. 



2 tablespoonfuls of chopped onions. 

2 tablespoonfuls of butter or drippings. 

2 cups of water, and salt and pepper. 

Fry the onions in the butter, add the meat, and brown ; cover with water and cook until 
the meat is tender. Serve with a border of Lima beans, seasoned with salt, pepper, but- 
ter, and a little chopped parsley. Fresh, canned, dried, or evaporated Lima beans may be 
used in making this dish. 

Roast Pork with Cowpeas. 

For this dish a leg of young pork should be selected. With a sharp knife make a deep 
cut in the knuckle and fill the opening with sage, pepper, salt, and chopped onion. When 
the roast is half done scar the skin but do not cut deeper than the outer rind. When the 
meat is nearly cooked pour off the excess of fat and add a quart of white cowpeas which 
have been previously parboiled or " hulled " and cook slowly until quite done and the 
meat is brown. Apple sauce may be served with this dish. 

MEAT SALADS. 

Whether meat salads are economical or not depends upon the way in which 
the materials are utilized. If in chicken salad, for example, only the white 
meat of chickens especially bought for the purpose and only the inside stems 
of expensive celery are used, it can hardly be cheaper than plain chicken. But, 
if portions of meat left over from a previous serving are mixed with celery 
grown at home, they certainly make an economical dish, and one very acceptable 
to most persons. Cold roast pork or tender veal — in fact, any white meat can 
be utilized in the same way. Apples cut into cubes may be substituted for part 
of the celery; many cooks consider that with the apple the salad takes the 
dressing better than with the celery alone. Many also prefer to marinate (i. e., 
mix with a little oil and vinegar) the meat and celery or celery and apples be- 
fore putting in the final dressing, which may be either mayonnaise or a good 
boiled dressing. 

MEAT WITH EGGS. 

Occasionally eggs are combined with meat, making very nutritious dishes. 
Whether this is an economy or not of course depends on the comparative cost 
of eggs and meat. 

In general, it may be said that eggs are cheaper food than meat when a dozen 
costs less than 1* pounds of meat, for a dozen eggs weighs about 1A pounds and 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 19 

the proportions of protein and fat which they contain are not far different from 
the proportions of these nutrients in the average cut of meat. When eggs arc 
30 cents a dozen they compare favorably with round of beef at 20 cents a pound. 
Such common dishes as ham and eggs, bacon or salt pork and eggs, and ome- 
lette with minced ham or other meat are familiar to all cooks. 

Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding. 
The beef is roasted as usual and the pudding made as follows: 

YORKSHIRE PODDING. 

3 eggs. | 1 cupful flour. 

1 pint milk. | 1 teaspoonful salt. 

Beat the eggs until very light, then add the milk. Pour the mixture over the flour, 
add the salt, and beat well. Bake in hissing hot gem pans or in an ordinary baking 
pan for forty-five minutes, and baste with drippings from the beef. If gem pans are 
used, they should be placed on a dripping pan to protect the floor of the oven from the 
fat. Many cooks prefer to bake Yorkshire pudding in the pan with the moat ; in this 
ease the roast should be placed on a rack and the pudding batter poured on the pan 
under it. 

Corned-Beef Hash with Poached Eggs. 

A dish popular with many persons is corned-beef hash with poached eggs on top of tin 1 
hash. A slice of toast is sometimes used under the hash. This suggests a way of utiliz- 
ing the small amount of corned-beef hash which would otherwise be insufficient for a meal. 

Housekeepers occasionally use up odd bits of other meat in a similar way, choppiug 
and seasoning them and then warming and serving in individual baking cups with a 
poached or shirred egg on each. 

Ham and Poached Eggs with Cream Sauce. 

A more elaborate dish of meat and eggs is made by placing a piece of thinly sliced 
boiled ham on a round of buttered toast, a poached egg on the bam, and covering with a 
highly seasoned cream or a Hollandaise sauce. A slice of tongue may be used instead of 
the ham. If preferred, a well-seasoned and rather thick tomato sauce or curry sauce may 
be used. 

STUFFING OR FORCEMEAT. 

Another popular way to extend the flavor of meat over a large amount of food 
is by the use of stuffing or forcemeat (a synonym more common in England than 
in the United States). As it is impossible to introduce much stuffing into some 
pieces of meat even if the meat is cut to make a pocket for it, it is often well to 
prepare more than can be put into the meat and to cook the remainder in the 
pan beside the meat. Some cooks cover the extra stuffing with buttered paper 
while it is cooking and baste it at intervals. 

Some recipes for meat dishes of this character follow, and others will be 
found in cookbooks. 

Mock Duck. 

Mock duck is made by placing on a round steak a stuffing of bread crumb well seasoned 
with chopped onions, butter, chopped suet or dripping, salt, pepper, and a little sage, if 
the flavor is relished. The steak is then rolled around the stuffing and tied with a string 
in several places. If the steak seems tough, the roll is steamed or stewed until tender 
before roasting in the oven until brown. Or it may be cooked in a casserole or other 
covered dish, in which case a cupful or more of water or soup-stock should be poured 
around the meat. Mock duck is excellent served with currant or other acid jelly. 

Mock Wild Duck. 



Salt, pepper, and powdered thyme, sage, and 
savory. 

2 tablespoonfuls flour. 
1 tablespoonful sugar. 

3 cupfuls water or stock. 



1 flank steak, or 
li pounds round steak cut h inch thick. 

2 lamb kidneys. 
5 cup butter or drippings. 
i cup cracker crumbs. 
1 tablespoonful minced onion. 

Trim the kidneys of all fat, cords, and veins. Cut into small pieces and spread evenly 
over one side of the steak together with the crumbs, onion, and seasonings. Roll and tie 
witli a cord. Brown the roil in fat, then remove and make a gravy by heating the flour 
in the fat and adding three cupfuls of stock or water and the sugar. Put the meat into 
the gravy and cook slowly until tender in a covered baking dish, a steamer, or a tireless 
cooker. If steamed or cooked in a tireless cooker, the roll should be browned in the oven 
before serving. 



20 ECONOMICAL. USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

Veal or Beef Birds. 

A popular dish known as veal or beef birds or by a variety of special names is made by 
taking small pieces of meat, each just large enough for an individual serving, and prepar- 
ing them in the same way as the mock duck is prepared. 

Sometimes variety is introduced by seasoning the stuffing with chopped olives or tomato. 
Many cooks prepare their " birds " by browning in a little fat, then adding a little water, 
covering closely and simmering until tender. 

UTILIZING THE CHEAPER CUTS OE MEAT IN PALATABLE DISHES. 

When the housekeeper attempts to reduce her meat bill by using the less 
expensive cuts, she commonly has two difficulties to contend with — toughness 
and lack of flavor. It has been shown how prolonged cooking softens the con- 
nective tissues of the meat. Pounding the meat and chopping it are also em- 
ployed with tough cuts, as they help to break the muscle fibers. As for flavor, 
the natural flavor of meat even in the least desirable cuts may be developed by 
careful cooking, notably by browning the surface, and other flavors may be given 
by the addition of vegetables and seasoning with condiments of various kinds. 

Methods of preparing inexpensive meat dishes will be discussed and practical 
directions for them will be given in the following sections. As often happens, 
two or three methods may be illustrated by the same dish, but the attempt has 
been made to group the recipes according to their most salient feature. 

PROLONGED COOKING AT LOW HEAT. 

Meat may be cooked in water in a number of ways without being allowed to 
reach the boiling point. With the ordinary kitchen range this is accomplished 
by cooking on the cooler part of the stove rather than on the hottest part, 
directly over the fire. Experience with a gas stove, particularly if it has a 
small burner known as a " simmerer," usually enables the cook to maintain 
temperatures which are high enough to sterilize the meat if it has become acci- 
dentally contaminated in any way and to make it tender without hardening the 
fibers. The double boiler would seem to be a neglected utensil for this purpose. 
Its contents can easily be kept up to a temperature of 200° F., and nothing will 
burn. Another method is by means of the tireless cooker. In this a high tem- 
perature can be maintained for a long time without the application of fresh 
heat. Still another method is by means of a closely covered baking dish. 
Earthenware dishes of this kind suitable for serving foods as well as for cook- 
ing are known as casseroles. For cooking purposes a baking dish covered with 
a plate or a bean jar covered with a saucer may be substituted. The Aladdin 
oven has long been popular for the purpose of preserving temperatures which 
are near the boiling point and yet do not reach it. It is a thoroughly insulated 
oven which may be heated either by a kerosene lamp or a gas jet. 

In this connection directions are given for using some of the toughest and 
least promising pieces of meat. 

Stewed Shin of Beef. 



tablespoonful of salt, 
teaspoonful of pepper, 
quarts of boiling water. 
i tablespoonfuls of butter or savory 
drippings. 



4 pounds of shin of beef. 

1 medium-sized onion. 

1 whole clove and a small bay leaf. 

1 sprig of parsley. 

1£ tablespoonfuls of flour. 

1 small slice of carrot. 

Have the butcher cut the bone in several pieces. Put all the ingredients but the flour 
and butter into a stewpan and bring to a boil. Set the pan where the liquid will just 
simmer for six hours, or after boiling for five or ten minutes, put all into the flreless 
cooker for eight or nine hours. With the butter, flour, and one-half cupful of the clear 
soup from which the fat has been removed, make a brown sauce (see p. 28) ; to this add 
the meat and the marrow removed from the bone. Heat and serve. The remainder of 
the liquid in which the meat has been cooked may be used for soup. 

Boiled Beef with Horse-radish Sauce. 
Plain boiled beef may also be served with horse-radish sauce, for which a recipe is given 
on page 27, and makes a palatable dish. A little chopped parsley sprinkled over the 
meat when served is considered an improvement by many persons. For the sake of 
variety the meat may be browned like pot roast before serving. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 21 



3 pounds mutton. 

2 tablespoonfuls of pearl barley. 

2 tablespoonfuls of minced onion. 

2 tablespoonfuls of minced turnip. 

2 tablespoonfuls of minced carrot. 



Scotch Broth. 

2 tablespoonfuls of minced celery. 

2 tablespoonfuls of salt. 
1 teaspoonful of pepper. 
1 tablespoonful of minced parsley. 

3 quarts cold water. 



Remove tbe bones and all tbe fat from the mutton, cut tbe meat into small pieces and 
put it into a stewpan with the water, chopped vegetables, barley, and all the seasoning 
excepting the parsley. It will be found convenient to tie the bones in a piece of thin 
white cloth before adding them to the other ingredients. Bring the stew to a boil, 
quickly skim it and allow it to simmer for three hours, thicken with the flour, and add 
the chopped parsley. 

Stuffed Heart. 

Wash the heart thoroughly inside and out, stuff with the following mixture, and sew 
up the opening : One cup broken bread dipped in fat and browned in the oven, 1 chopped 
onion, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Cover the heart with water and simmer until tender or boil ten minutes and set in the 
tireless cooker for six or eight hours. Remove from the water about one-half hour before 
serving. Dredge with flour, pepper, and salt, or sprinkle with crumbs and bake until 
brown. 

Braised Beef, Pot Roast, and Beef a la Mode. 

The above names are given to dishes made from tbe less tender cuts of meat. They 
vary little either in composition or method of preparation. In all cases the meat is 
browned on the outside to increase the flavor and then cooked in a small amount of water 
in a closely covered kettle or other receptacle until tender. The flavor of the dish is 
secured by browning the meat and by the addition of the seasoning vegetables. Many 
recipes suggest that the vegetables be removed before serving and the liquid he thickened. 
As the vegetables are usually extremely well-seasoned by means of the browned fat and 
the extracts of the meat, it seems unfortunate not to serve them. 

Of course, the kind, quality, and shape of the meat all play their part in the matter. 
Extra time is needed for meats with a good deal of sinew and tough fibers such as the 
tough steaks, shank cuts, etc. ; and naturally a fillet of beef, or a steak from a prime cut, 
will take less time than a thick piece from the shin. Such dishes require more time and 
perhaps more skill in their preparation and may involve more expense for fuel than the 
more costly cuts, which like chops or tender steaks may be quickly cooked, but to the 
epicure, as well as to the average man, they are palatable when rightly prepared. 

Bean-Pot Roast. 



1 cup potatoes cut into small pieces. 
J cup sliced onion. 



3 pounds mutton (shoulder), or 
3 pounds round, or chuck steak. 
1 cup carrots cut into small pieces. 

Cover the meat with boiling water. Place the cover on the bean pot and let the meat 
cook in a moderate oven for two hours ; then add the vegetables cut in half-inch cubes, 
with 2 teaspoonfuls salt ; cook until the vegetables are tender, which will require about 
one hour ; then serve, pouring a sauce over the meat, made from 1 cup of the liquid in 
which the meat was cooked, thickened w ; th 2 tablespoonfuls of flour. 



Hungarian Goulash. 



2 pounds top round of beef. 

A little flour. 

2 ounces salt pork. 

2 cups tomatoes. 

1 stalk celery. 



1 onion. 

2 bay leaves. 

6 whole cloves. 

6 peppercorns. 

1 blade mace. 



Cut the beef into 2-inch pieces and sprinkle with flour; fry the salt pork until light 
brown; add the beef and cook slowly for about thirty-five minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Cover with water and simmer about two hours ; season with salt and pepper or paprika. 

From the vegetables and spices a sauce is made as follows : Cook in sufficient water to 
cover for twenty minutes ; then rub through a sieve, and add to some of the stock in 
which the meat was cooked. Thicken with flour, using 2 tablespoonfuls (moistened with 
cold water) to each cup of liquid, and season with salt and paprika. 

Serve the meat on a platter with the sauce poured over it. Potatoes, carrots, and 
green peppers cooked until tender, and cut into small pieces or narrow strips, are usually 
sprinkled over the dish when served, and noodles may be arranged in a border upon the 
platter. 

Goulash is a Hungarian dish which has come to be a favorite in the United States. 

CASSEROLE COOXERY. 

A casserole is a heavy earthenware dish with a cover. A substitute for it can easily 
be improvised by using any heavy earthenware dish with a heavy plate for the cover. 
A casserole presentable enough in appearance to be put on the table serves the double 
purpose of baking and serving dish. 



22 ECONOMICAL. USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

A suitable cut of beef or veal, and it may well be one of the cheaper cuts, as the long, 
slow cooking insures tenderness, may be cooked in a casserole. 

Poultry and other meats besides beef or veal can be cooked in this manner. Chicken 
cooked in a casserole, which is a favorite and expensive dish in good hotels and restau- 
rants, may be easily prepared in the home, and casserole cookery is to be recommended 
for a tough chicken. 

The heat must be moderate and the cooking must occupy a long time. Hurried cook- 
ing in a casserole is out of the question. If care is taken in this particular, and suitable 
seasonings are used, few who know anything of cooking should go astray. 

Chopped meat also may be cooked in a casserole and this utensil is particularly useful 
for the purpose, because the food is served in the same dish in which it is cooked and 
may easily be kept hot, a point which is important with chopped meats, which usually 
cool rapidly. 

Casserole Roast. 



3 or 4 pounds of round or rump of beef. 
A slice of salt pork. 
A few peppercorns. 



One-fourth each of a carrot, a turnip, an 
onion, and a head of celery cut into small 
pieces. 



Try out the pork. Brown the meat on both sides in the fat. Put in a casserole with 
the vegetables around it, add 2 cupfuls of water or stock. Cover and cook in a hot oven 
three hours, basting occasionally. A sauce or gravy can be made with water, flour, and 
some of the juice left in the casserole. 

Casserole or Italian Hash. 

Boil one-fourth pound of macaroni, drain and put into a buttered casserole, add a little 
butter and grated cheese. Push the macaroni to the sides of the dish and fill the center 
with chopped cooked meat seasoned to suit the taste of the family. A little sausage gives 
a good flavor to this dish. Place in the oven until hot throughout and serve. 

A very good modification of this is made by using raw instead of cooked meat. For 
this one-half pound of round steak is sufficient for a family of six. This should be cut 
into small pieces, browned, and cooked until tender in water with the onions and other 
seasonings. An hour before the cooking is complete, add one-half can of tomatoes. 
Before serving, the meat may he mixed with the sauce, and the whole is poured over the 
macaroni. 

MEAT COOKED WITH VINEGAR. 

Dishes of similar sort as regards cooking, but in which vinegar is used to give 
flavor as well as to soften the meat and make it tender, are the following: 

Sour Beef. 

Take a piece of beef from the rump or the lower round, cover with vinegar or with a 
half-and-half mixture of vinegar and water, add sliced onion, bay leaves, and a few mixed 
whole spices and salt. Allow to stand a week in winter or three or four days in summer; 
turn once a day and keep covered. When ready to cook, brown the meat in fat, using 
an enameled iron pan, strain the liquid over it and cook until tender ; thicken the gravy 
with flour or ginger snaps (which may be broken up first), strain it, and pour over the 
sliced meat. Some cooks add cream. 

Sour Beefsteak. 

Round steak may he cooked in water in which there is a little vinegar, or if the time 
is sufficient, it may be soaked for a few hours in vinegar and water and then cooked in a 
casserole or in some cimilar way. 

POUNDED MEAT. 

Pounding meat before cooking is an old-fashioned method of making it tender, 
but while it has the advantage of breaking down the tough tissues it has the 
disadvantage of being likely to drive out the juices and with them the flavor. A 
very good way of escaping this difficulty is pounding flour into the meat; this 
catches and retains the juices. Below are given the recipes for two palatable 
dishes in which this is done: 

Farmer Stew. 

Pound flour into both sides of a round steak, using as much as the meat will take up. 
This may be done with a meat pounder or with the edge of a heavy plate. Fry in drip- 
pings, butter, or other fat in a Scotch bowl, or if more convenient in an ordinary iron 
kettle or a frying pan ; then add water enough to cover it. Cover the dish very tightly 
so that the steam can not escape and allow the meat to simmer for two hours or until 
it is tender. One advantage of this dish is that ordinarily it is ready to serve when the 
meat is done as the gravy is already thickened. Ilowever, if a large amount of fat is 
used in the frying, the gravy may not be thick enough and must be blended with flour. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 23 

Spanish Beefsteak. 

Take a piece of round steak weighing 2 pounds and about an inch thick ; pound until 
thin, season with salt and Cayenne pepper, cover with a layer of bacon or salt pork, cut 
into thin slices, roll and tie with a cord. Pour around it half a cupful of milk and half 
a cupful of water. IMace in a covered baking dish and cook two hours, basting occa- 
sionally. 

CHOPPED MEAT. 

Chopping meat is one of the principal methods of making tough and inex- 
pensive meat tender, i. e., dividing it finely and thus cutting the connective 
tissue into small bits. Such meats have another advantage in that they may be 
cooked quickly and economically. 

In broiling chopped meat the fact should be kept in mind that there is no reason why 
it should not be cooked like the best and most expensive tenderloin. The only reason 
that ever existed for difference in treatment was the toughness of the connective tissue, 
and this feature has been overcome by the chopping. The ideal to be reached in broiling 
steak is to sear the surface very quickly, so that the juices which contain the greater 
part of the flavoring of the meat shall be kept in, and then to allow the heat to penetrate 
to the inside until the whole mass is cooked to the taste of the family. To pass the point 
where the meat ceases to be puffy and juicy and becomes flat and hard is very undesirable, 
as the palatability is then lost. Exactly the same ideal should be kept in mind in 
broiling chopped meat. If this were always done, hard, compact, tasteless balls or cakes 
of meat would be served less often. To begin with, the broiler should be even more 
carefully greased than for a whole steak. This makes it possible to form the balls or 
cakes of chopped meat with very little pressure without running the risk of having them 
pulled to pieces by adhering to the wires of the broiler. They should be heated on both 
sides even more quickly than the steak, because the chopping has provided more ways of 
escape for the juice, and these openings should be sealed as soon as possible. The interior 
should be cooked to the taste of the family just as the steak is. 

In regard to broiling it may incidentally be noted that housekeepers often make them- 
selves unnecessary work when broiling under gas by allowing the juice from steaks or 
meat balls to drop into the large pan under the rack. A smaller pan set in the larger 
one may be made to catch all the juice and fat and is much easier to wash. It serves 
also to economize the gravy. 

Chopped raw meat of almost any kind can be very quickly made into a savory dish 
by cooking it with water or with water and milk for a short time, then thickening with 
butter and flour, and adding different seasonings as relished, either pepper and salt 
alone, or onion juice, celery, or tomato. Such a dish may be made to " go further " 
by serving it on toast or with a border of rice or in some similar combination. 

Tough Portions of Porterhouse Steak. 

Before speaking of the cooking of the cuts that lack tenderness throughout, it may be 
well to refer to the fact that the flank end of the porterhouse is to be classed with the 
toughest of cuts and with those which, when cooked alone, are with difficulty made 
tender even by long heating. Mock duck, which is commonly made out of flank steak, 
can be rendered tender enough to be palatable only by long steaming or cooking in 
water (see p. 19) and yet people quite generally broil this part of the steak with the ten- 
derloin and expect it to be eaten. The fart is that to broil this part of the porterhouse 
steak is not good management. It is much more profitable to put it into the soup 
kettle or to make it into a stew. In families where most of the members are away 
during the day the latter is a good plan, for the end of a steak makes a good stew for 
two or three people. This may be seasoned with vegetables left from dinner, or two 
or three olives cut up in gravy will give a very good flavor ; or a few drops of some one 
of the bottled meat sauces, if the flavor is relished, or a little Chili sauce may be added 
to the stew. But if the tough end of a porterhouse is needed with the rest, a good plan 
is to put it through a meat grinder, make it into balls, and broil it with the tender 
portions. Each member of the family can then be served with a piece of the tenderloin 
and a meat ball. If the chopped meat is seasoned with a little onion juice, grated 
lemon rind, or chopped parsley, a good flavor is imparted to the gravy. 

Hamburg Steak. 

This name is commonly given to inexpensive cuts of beef chopped, seasoned a little, 
shaped into small balls or into one large thin cake, and quickly broiled in the way 
that a tender steak would be. Owing to the quick cooking much of the natural flavor 
of the meat is developed and retained. The fact should be kept in mind that Hamburg 
steak must be made from fresh, well-ground meat. It is much safer to chop the meat 
at home, as chopped meat spoils very quickly. Much depends, too, upon browning it 
sufficiently to bring out the flavors. Many cooks think that Hamburg steak is improved 
if the meat is mixed with milk before it is cooked. 

In some parts of the country, and particularly in some of the Southern States, two 
kinds of beef are on sale. One is imported from other parts of the country and is of 



24 ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

higher price. The other, known locally as " native heef," is sometimes lacking in flavor 
and in fat and is usually tougher. Southern native beef such as is raised in Florida is 
almost invariably, however, of extremely good flavor, due presumably to the feed or 
other conditions under which it is raised. By chopping such meat and cooking it as 
Hamburg steak, a dish almost as palatable as the best cuts of the more expensive beef 
may be obtained. In such cases, however, it is desirable because of the low percentage 
of fat to add suet or butter to the meat. The reason for this is that in the cooking 
the water of the juice when unprotected by fat evaporates too quickly and leaves the 
meat dry. This may be prevented by adding egg as well as fat, for the albumen of the 
egg hardens quickly and tends to keep in the juices. The proportion should be 1 egg to 
l | pounds of meat. 

Savory Rolls. 

Savory rolls in great variety are made out of chopped meat either with or without 
egg. The variety is secured by the flavoring materials used and by the sauces with which 
the baked rolls are served. A few recipes will be given below. While these definite 
directions are given it should be remembered that a few general principles borne in mind 
make recipes unnecessary and make it possible to utilize whatever may happen to be on 
hand. Appetizing rolls are made with beef and pork mixed. The proportion varies 
from two parts of beef and one of pork to two of pork and one of beef. The rolls are 
always improved by laying thin slices of salt pork or bacon over them, which keep the 
surface moistened with fat during the roasting. These slices should be scored on the 
edge, so that they will not curl up in cooking. The necessity for the salt pork is greater 
when the chopped meat is chiefly beef than when it is largely pork or veal. Bread 
crumbs or bread moistened in water can always be added, as it helps to make the dish 
go farther. When onions, green peppers, or other vegetables are used, they should always 
be thoroughly cooked in fat before being put in the roll, for usually they do not cook 
sufficiently in the length of time it takes to cook the meat. Sausage makes a good 
addition to the roll, but it is usually cheaper to use unseasoned pork meat with the 
addition of a little sage. 

Cannelon of Beef. 

This dish is prepared by making chopped beef into a roll and baking it wrapped in a but- 
tered paper, a method designed to keep in the steam and so insure a moist, tender dish. 
The paper must be removed before serving. The roll should be basted occasionally with 
butter and water or drippings and water. In preparing the roll an egg may be added for 
each pound and a half of meat, and chopped parsley, onion juice, lemon peel, or finely 
chopped green peppers make good seasoning. A thickened gravy may be made from the 
drippings, the liquid used being either water or tomato juice (see p. 28). 

Strips of pork laid on the roll may be substituted for the buttered paper and basting. 

Filipino Beef. 



1 egg. 

2 cups of stewed tomatoes. 
2 slices of bacon. 

2 tablespoonfuls of butter. 
4 tablespoonfuls of flour. 



1 pound round beef. 

i pound lean fresh pork. 

1 small onion. 

1 green pepper. 

1 teaspoonfui of salt. 

1 cup of soft stale bread crumbs. 

Remove the seeds from the pepper and put it through the meat grinder with the 
meats and the onion. Add crumbs, egg, and salt. Make into a roll, place in a shallow 
baking dish, pour the strained tomatoes around it, put the bacon on top, and bake forty min- 
utes, basting with the tomatoes. Thicken the gravy with the flour cooked in the butter. 
A little seasoning such as a bit of bay leaf, a clove, and a small piece of onion improves 
the tomato sauce. As the pepper and onion are not likely to be cooked as soon as the 
meat, it is well to fry them in a little fat before adding to the other ingredients. 

This dish will serve G to 8 people. When the meat is 20 cents a pound and every 
other item is valued at usual town market prices, the dish costs about 50 cents. If the 
meat costs only 10 cents per pound and vegetables from the garden are used the initial 
cost of the dish will be small. Since no vegetable except potatoes or rice need be 
served with this dish, it may be said to answer the purpose of both meat and vegetable. 



Mock Rabbit. 



i pound round steak, and 
1 pound sausage ; 

or 
1 pound round steak, and 
i pound sausage meat. 



3 slices of bread moistened with water. 

1 egg. 

1 onion. 

J pound salt pork. 

Pepper and salt. 



Chop the meat. Chop the onion and cook (but do not brown) it in the fat tried out of 
a small portion of the pork. Add the bread and cook a few minutes. When this is cool, 
mix all the ingredients and form into a long round roll. The surface can easily be made 
smooth if the hand is wet with cold water. Lay the remaining pork cut in thin slices on 
top and bake forty minutes in a hot oven. The sausage may be omitted if desired and 
other seasoning used. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 25 

Veal Loaf. 



3 pounds veal. 

1 pound salt pork. 

G soda crackers rolled fine. 



3 eggs well beaten. 
J teaspoonful pepper. 
I teaspoonful salt. 



Chop the meat mixed with the other ingredients, shape, and bake three hours, basting 
occasionally with pork fat. Use one-fourth cut of fat for this purpose.. If the roll is 
pierced occasionally the fat will penetrate more effectually. Veal loaf may also be cooked 
in bread pans. Some persons cook the veal before chopping. 

DEVELOPING AND IMPROVING FLAVOR OF MEAT. 

The typical meat flavors are very palatable to most persons, even when they 
are constantly tasted, and consequently the better cuts of meat in which they 
are well developed can be cooked and served without attention being paid 
especially to flavor. Careful cooking aids in developing the natural flavor of 
some of the cheaper cuts, and such a result is to be sought wherever it is possi- 
ble. Browning also brings out flavors agreeable to most palates. Aside from 
these two ways of increasing the flavor of the meat itself there are countless 
ways of adding flavor to otherwise rather tasteless meats. The flavors may be 
added in preparing the meat for cooking, as in various seasoned dishes already 
described, or they may be supplied to cooked meat in the form of sauces. 
RETAINING NATURAL FLAVOR. 

As has already been pointed out, it is extremely difficult to retain the flavor- 
giving extractives in a piece of meat so tough as to require prolonged cooking. 
It is sometimes partially accomplished by first searing the exterior of the meat 
and thus preventing the escape of the juices. Another device, illustrated by the 
following recipe, is to let them escape into the gravy which is served with the 
meat itself. A similar principle is applied when roasts are basted with their 
own juice. 

Round Steak on Biscuits. 

Cut round steak into pieces about one-half inch square, cover with water and cook it 
at a temperature just below the boiling point until it is tender, or boil for five minutes, 
and while still hot put into the tireless cooker and leave it for five hours. Thicken the 
gravy with flour mixed with water, allowing 2 level tablespoonfuls to a cup of water. 
I'our the meat and gravy over split baking-powder biscuits so baked that they have a 
large amount of crust. 

FLAVOR OF BROWNED MEAT OR FAT. 
Next to the unchanged flavor of the meat itself comes the flavor which is 
secured by browning the meat with fat. The outside slices of roast meat have 
this browned flavor in marked degree. Except in the case of roasts, browning 
for flavor is usually accomplished by heating the meat in a frying pan in fat 
which has been tried out of pork or in suet or butter. Care should be taken 
that the fat is not scorched. The chief reason for the bad opinion in which 
fried food is held by many is that it almost always means eating burned fat. 
When fat is heated too high it splits up into fatty acids and glycerin, and from 
the glycerin is formed a substance (acrolein) which has a very irritating effect 
upon the mucous membrane. All will recall that the fumes of scorched fat 
make the eyes water. It is not surprising that such a substance, if taken into 
the stomach, should cause digestive disturbance. Fat in itself is a very valuable 
food, and the objection to fried foods because they may be fat seems illogical. 
If they supply burned fat there is a good reason for suspicion. Many house- 
keepers cook bacon in the oven on a wire broiler over a pan and believe it more 
wholesome than fried bacon. The reason, of course, is that thus cooked in 
the oven there is less chance for the bacon becoming impregnated with burned 
fat. Where fried salt pork is much used good cooks know that it must not 
be cooked over a very hot fire, even if they have never heard of the chem- 
istry of burned fat. The recipe for bean-pot roast (p. 21) and other similar 
recipes may be varied by browning the meat or part of it before covering with 
water. This results in keeping some of the natural flavoring within the meat 
itself and allowing less to go into the gravy. The flavor of veal can be very 
greatly improved in this way. 



26 ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

The following old-fashioned dishes made with pork owe their savoriness 
chiefly to the flavor of browned fat or meat : 

Salt Pork with Milk Gravy. 

Cut salt or cured pork into thin slices. If very salt, cover with hot water and allow 
it to stand for ten minutes. Score the Bind of the slices and fry slowly until they are a 
golden brown. Make a milk gravy by heating flour in the fat that has been tried out, 
allowing 2 tablespoonfuls of fat and 2 tablespoonfuls of flour to each cup of milk. This 
is a good way to use skim milk, which is as rich in protein as whole milk. The pork 
and milk gravy served with boiled or baked potatoes makes a cheap and simple meal, but 
one that most people like very much. Bacon is often used in place of salt pork in mak- 
ing this dish. 

Fried Salt Pork with Salt Codfish or " Salt-fish Dinner." 

5 pound salt pork. I 4 tablespoonfuls flour. 

1 pound codfish. A speck of salt. 

2 cups of milk (skim milk will do). 

Cut the codfish into strips, soak in lukewarm water and then cook in water until 
tender but do not allow the water to come to the boiling point except for a very short 
time as prolonged boiling may make it tough. Cut the pork into one-fourth inch slices 
and cut several gashes in each piece. Fry very slowly until golden brown, and remove, 
pouring off the fat. Out of 4 tablespoonfuls of the fat, the flour, and the milk make a 
white sauce. Dish up the codfish with pieces of pork around it and serve with boiled 
potatoes and beets. Some persons serve the pork, and the fat from it, in a gravy boat 
so it can be added as relished. 

FLAVORING VEGETABLES, HERBS, SPICES, ETC. 

.Many flavorings are used in meat dishes, some of which are familiar to all 
cooks — onions, carrots, turnips, and garlic being perhaps the most widely known. 
Butter, too, may be regarded as one of the most common seasonings, and of 
course makes the dish richer. Meat extract is also used for flavoring many meat 
dishes and other foods, as are also, though less commonly, similar extracts made 
from clams or other "sea food." The following list includes these with various 
others, a number of which it is convenient to keep always on hand : Onions, 
carrots, green peppers, parsnips, turnips, tomatoes, fresh, canned or dried ; celery 
tops and parsley, either fresh or dried; sage, savory, thyme, sweet marjoram, 
bay leaf, garlic, lemon rind, vinegar, capers, pickles, olives, currant jelly, curry 
powder, cloves, pepper corns, celery seed, meat extract, Chili sauce, pepper 
sauce, or some similar hot or sharp sauce, and some kind of good commercial 
meat sauce. Some hints regarding the use of such flavorings follow : 

Flavor of fried vegetables. — Most of the stews, soups, braised meats, and pot roasts are 
very much improved if the flavoring vegetables which they contain, such as carrots, 
turnips, onions, celery, or green peppers, are fried in a little fat before being cooked with 
the meat. This need not complicate the preparation of the meat or increase the number 
of utensils used, for the meat itself is usually seared over in fat, and the vegetables can 
be cooked in the same fat before the browning of the meat. 

Onion juice. — Cookbooks usually say that onion juice should be extracted by cutting 
an onion in two and rubbing the cut surface against a grater. Considering how hard it 
is to wash a grater, this method has its drawbacks. Small amounts of juice may be 
obtained in the following simpler way : Peel the onion and extract a few drops of juice 
by pressing one side with the dull edge of a knife. 

Green peppers. — The flavor of green peppers gives an acceptable variety. The seed 
should always be removed. The peppers should be chopped and added to chopped meat 
or other meat dishes. Meat mixed with bread crumbs may be baked in the pepper shells 
and the stuffed peppers served as a separate dish. 

Parsley. — It is easy to raise parsley by growing it in a pot in the kitchen window and 
thus to have it always on hand fresh, or the leaves may be kept for a long time if 
sealed up in a fruit jar and stored in a cool place. Tarsley, mint, and celery tops may 
all be dried, rubbed into fine bits, and kept in air-tight jars. Recipes usually say to chop 
fresh parsley with a sharp knife on a board. But a board is a hard thing to wash and 
a plate serves the purpose quite as well. 

Bay leaf. — Bay leaf is one of the best and at the same time one of the most-abused 
flavors. In small quantities it gives a very pleasant flavor to soups and gravies, but in 
large quantities it gives a rank resin-like taste. Remember that half of a bay leaf is the 
allowance for .'? quarts of soup stock. This will indicate how small a quantity should 
be used for the portion of gravy usually served at a meal. With this precaution in mind, 
bay leaf may be recommended as a flavoring for many sauces, particularly tomato sauce. 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 27 

A kitchen bouquet. — A " bouquet " such as is often referred to in recipes may be made 
as follows : A sprig each of parsley, savory, and thyme, one small leaf of sage, and a 
bay leaf. This will flavor 1 gallon of soup when cooked in it for an hour and should not 
remain in it longer. 

Horse-radish. — Horse-radish, like mustard, is more often served with meat than used 
to flavor it during cooking. A very palatable sauce, especially good with boiled beef, is 
made by adding grated horse-radish and a little vinegar to a little whipped cream, or as 
follows : Thicken milk with cracker crumbs by heating them together in a double boiler, 
using 3 tablespoonfuls of cracker crumbs to 11 cups of milk. Add one-third of a cup of 
grated horse-radish, 3 tablespoonfuls of butter, and I teaspoonful of salt; or thicken 
with butter and flour some of the water in which the meat was boiled, add a generous 
quantity (1 or 2 tablespoonfuls) of grated horse-radish, boil a short time, and serve. This 
recipe is the most usual in German homes where the sauce is a favorite. 

Acid flavoring. — Vinegar, lemon juice, and sour jelly, like currant, are often used to 
flavor the thick gravies which are a part of meat stew or which are served with it. Vinegar 
is an old-fashioned relish which was often added to bacon or salt pork and greens, pork 
and beans, corned beef and cabbage, and similar dishes. These flavors combine well with 
that of brown flour, but not with onions or other vegetables of strong flavor. The idea 
that vinegar used in small quantities is unwholesome seems to be without foundation. 

Pickles. — Chopped pickles are sometimes added to the gravy served with boiled mutton. 
They are cheaper than capers and serve somewhat the same purpose. Chopped pickles are 
also very commonly used in sauces for fish and in many others to give a distinctive flavor. 

Olives. — Chopped olives also make a welcome variety in meat sauce, and are not expen- 
sive if they are bought in bulk. They will not spoil if a little olive oil is poured on 
the top of the liquor in which they are kept. This liquor should always completely 
cover them. 

Chili sauce, commercial meat sauces, etc. — Recipes often may be varied by the addition 
of a little Chili sauce, tomato catsup, or a commercial meat sauce. These may be called 
emergency flavors and used when it is not convenient to prepare other kinds of gravies. 

Sausage. — A little sausage or chopped ham may be used in chopped beef. 

Curry powder. — This mixture of spices which apparently originated in India, but which 
is now a common commercial product everywhere, is a favorite flavoring for veal, lamb, 
or poultry. The precaution mentioned in connection with bay leaves, however, should 
he observed. A small amount gives a good flavor. It is usually used to season the thick 
sauces with which meats are served or in which they are allowed to simmer. While the 
term " curry " is usually employed to describe a particular mixture of spices made up 
for the trade, it has another meaning. The words " curry " or " curried " are sometimes 
used to describe highly seasoned dishes of meat, eggs, or vegetables prepared by methods 
that have come from India or other parts of the East. 

India Curry. 
1J pounds veal. i 2 onions or less. 

i cup of butter or drippings. | I tablespoonful curry or less. 

Brown meat either without fat or with very little and cut into small pieces. 

Fry the onions in the butter, remove them, add the meat and curry powder. Cover 
the meat with boiling water and cook until tender. Serve with a border of rice. This 
dish is so savory that it can be made to go a long way by serving with a large amount of 
rice. The two onions and one-half tablespoonful of curry powder are the largest amount 
to be used. Many persons prefer less of each. 

In preparing the rice for this dish perhaps no better method can be given than that in 
an earlier bulletin of this series : a 

" Wash 1 cupful of rice in several waters, rubbing the grains between the hands to 
remove all the dirt. Put the washed rice in a stewpan with 2J cupfuls of water and 1 
teaspoonful of salt. Cover and place where the water will boil. Cook for twenty 
minutes, being careful not to let it burn. At the end of this time put the stewpan on a 
tripod or ring and cover the rice with a fold of cheese cloth. Let it continue to cook in 
this manner an hour, then turn into a hot vegetable dish. The rice will be tender, dry 
and sweet, and each grain will separate. During the whole process of cooking the rice 
must not be stirred. If a tablespoonful of butter is cut up and scattered over the rice 
when it has cooked twenty minutes the dish will be very much improved." 

The butter is not necessary when the rice is served with India curry hut may be 
included in dishes where less fat is used. 

Curry of Veal. 



1 tablespoonful flour. 

1 teaspoonful curry powder. 

Salt and pepper. 



2 tablespoonfuls butter or drippings. 
1J pounds veal. 
J onion, chopped. 
1 pint milk. 

Fry the onions in the butter or drippings, remove, and fry the veal until it is brown. 
Transfer the meat to the double boiler, cover with milk and cook until the m :at is tender. 
Add the curry powder a short time before the meat is clone and thicken the milk with 
flour before serving. 

" U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 25G, p. 38. 



28 ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

SAUCES. 

The art of preparing savory gravies and sauces is more important in connec- 
tion with the serving of the cheaper meats than in connection with the cooking 
of the more expensive. 

There are a few general principles underlying the making of all sauces or 
gravies, whether the liquid used is water, milk, stock, tomato juice, or some com- 
bination of these. For ordinary gravy 2 level tablespoonfuls of flour or li table- 
spoonfuls of cornstarch or arrowroot is sufficient to thicken a cupful of liquid. 
This is true excepting when, as in the recipe on page 17, the flour is browned. 
In this case about one-half tablespoonful more should be allowed, for browned 
flour does not thicken so well as unbrowned. The fat used may be butter or the 
drippings from the meat, the allowance being 2 tablespoonfuls to a cup of liquid. 

The easiest way to mix the ingredients is to heat the fat, add the flour, and 
cook until the mixture ceases to bubble, and then to add the liquid. This is a 
quick method and by using it there is little danger of getting a lumpy gravy. 
Many persons, however, think it is not a wholesome method and prefer the old- 
fashioned one of thickening the gravy by means of flour mixed with a little cold 
water. The latter method is of course not practicable for brown gravies. 

Considering the large amount of discussion about the digestibility of fried 
food and of gravies made by heating flour in fat, a few words on the subject 
at this point may not be out of order. It is difficult to see how heating the fat 
before adding the flour can be unwholesome, unless the cook is unskillful enough 
to heat the fat so high that it begins to scorch. Overheated fat, as has already 
been pointed out, contains an acrid irritating substance called " acrolein," 
which may be readily considered to be unwholesome. It is without doubt the 
production of this body by overheating which has given fried food its bad name. 
Several ways of varying the flavor of gravies and sauces were suggested in 
the preceding section. One other should be especially mentioned here. 

The flavor of browned flour. — The good flavor of browned flour is often overlooked. If 
flour is cooked in fat until it is a dark brown color a distinctive and very agreeable flavor 
is obtained. This flavor combines very well with that of current jelly, and a little jelly 
added to a brown gravy is a great improvement. The flavor of this should not be com- 
bined with that of onions or other highly flavored vegetables. A recipe for a dish which 
is made with brown sauce follows. 

Mock Venison. 

Cut cold mutton into thin slices and heat in a brown sauce made according to the 
following proportions : 



1 tablespoonful red-currant jelly. 
1 cupful water or stock. 



2 tablespoonfuls butter. 
2 tablespoonfuls flour. 

1 tablespoonful of bottled meat sauce 
(whichever is preferred.) 

Brown the flour in the butter, add the water or stock slowly, and keep stirring. Then 
add the jelly and meat sauce and let the mixture boil up well. 

SUMMARY. 

The nutritive value of meat, the relative digestibility of different kinds and 
cuts cooked in various ways, the losses sustained in different methods of 
cooking, and related questions which have to do with the use of meat as food, 
have been studied as a part of the nutrition investigations of the Office of 
Experiment Stations. Many investigators have contributed to the enterprise 
and special methods have been followed. In the study of some of the problems 
t he respiration calorimeter has been used and results have been obtained 
important from a scientific as well as from a practical standpoint. 

Studies of the food habits of peoples living in the temperate and warmer 
regions of the world, where animal and vegetable foods are both found in 
abundance .nd where there is opportunity for choice, show that, while vege- 
table foods — cereals, succulent vegetables, and fruits — compose the greater part 
of the bulk of the diet, animal foods — dairy products, eggs, meat, and fish — 



ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 29 

almost invariably enter into the bill of fare. For many reasons it seems fair 
to conclude, with the majority of the physiologists, that this widespread habit 
is the result of experience and that it has its foundation in bodily needs. From 
the earliest times, in fact, man has used animal foods, and his whole body struc- 
ture is adapted to the ase of such articles of diet. Though some, for various 
reasons, do not favor the eating of flesh, the consensus of opinion among physi- 
ologists who have given special attention to the subject is that flesh foods are a 
wholesome and normal part of the diet. 

Of course it is possible to overeat of these foods, but so it is to overeat of 
such foods as butter, or olive oil, for example ; so in meat eating, as in other 
food habits, moderation is desirable. This is particularly the case for those who 
live sedentary lives involving little muscular work. Such people naturally 
select and seem to need less meat and other foods than those who lead out-of- 
door lives and do hard manual labor. The man of sedentary life, if he has 
the food habits of the average American family, would ordinarily take a 
moderate portion of meat or fish — a chop or a cutlet or a slice of roast beef — 
once a day, or a somewhat larger quantity divided between two or all three 
meals. Such a quantity would weigh from 3 to 5 ounces, an amount certainly 
not large. The heartier man, who leads a vigorous life in the open air, would 
naturally relish more meat just as he would want more bread, butter, and other 
foods than the man with little active work. The fact that some persons eat 
more meat than the circumstances of their lives demand should not be taken 
as an argument against meat eating in general. 

According to statistics compiled in the Office of Experiment Stations, meat 
furnishes about 16 per cent of the total food consumed in the ox % dinary Ameri- 
can family, about 30 per cent of the protein desirable in the average diet, and 
60 per cent of the energy-producing fats. It is possible to obtain all of the 
necessary protein and energy from other materials, but for many reasons it is 
doubtful if such a proceeding would be either desirable or agreeable for the 
average person. Exactly how much meat should be eaten is a difficult matter 
to determine; probably if one meat dish is served a day. and other materials 
supplying protein, such as milk, eggs, beans, or similar foods, are also used, 
there is little danger of getting too much meat or too little protein. It is of 
course possible to eat meat dishes less frequently, or as noted above, to omit 
meat from the diet altogether, if one so desires and the diet is so arranged that 
it remains well balanced. 

Meat is in general one of the most digestible of food materials. Recent 
experiments indicate that all kinds are thoroughly digested, less expensive cuts 
as well as the more costly. The higher priced cuts contain inore of the so- 
called extractives or extractives of more pleasing quality, and it is these sub- 
stances which not only give the meat its agreeable flavor, but also actually 
stimulate the digestive processes. They have, however, little if any nutritive 
value, and for persons with normal digestion the less expensive cuts, even if less 
rich in extractives, cooked and flavored in an appetizing way, may certainly 
be used to replace the more costly cuts. 

Meat is undeniably one of the more expensive items in the food bill of the 
ordinary family, and for this reason it is important that it be bought and used 
to the best possible advantage. In rural communities cooperative slaughter- 
houses and storage houses are often useful not only in reducing the cost of 
meat, but in making fresh meat available in summer. If the size of her family 
or her storage facilities warrant, the housekeeper may find it advantageous to 
buy the whole carcass of a small animal, such as a pig or a lamb, or a large 
section of beef, thus securing better prices. Carefully following the market 
and taking advantage of any special opportunity that may offer also helps to 
reduce the expense for meat for the family in town. 



30 ECONOMICAL USE OF MEAT IN THE HOME. 

It is also Important to reduce waste by using as much as possible of tbe bone, 
fat, and trimmings, not usually served with the meat itself. If nothing better 
can be done with them, the bones and trimmings can almost always be profit- 
ably used in the soup kettle and the fat can be saved for cooking, thus saving 
the more expensive butter and lard. The bits of meat not served with the 
main dish or remaining after the first serving can be seasoned and recooked in 
many palatable ways, or can be combined with vegetables, pie crust, or other 
materials, and thus the meat flavor may be extended over a large quantity of 
less expensive food with such combinations. Moreover, smaller quantities of 
meat can often be bought than would be necessary were the meat served alone. 

Different kinds and cuts of meat vary considerably in price. Sometimes the 
cheaper cuts contain a larger proportion of refuse than the more expensive, 
and the apparent cost is less than the actual cost of the edible portion. Aside 
from this the advantage of the more expensive cuts lies in tenderness and 
flavor rather than in nutritive value. Tenderness depends on the character of 
the muscle fibers and connective tissues of which the meat is composed. Flavor 
depends partly on the fat present in the tissues, but mainly on nitrogenous 
bodies known as extractives, which are usually more abundant or of more 
agreeable flavor in the more tender parts of the animal. The heat of cooking 
dissolves the connective tissues of tough meat and in a measure makes it more 
tender, but heat above the boiling point or even a little lower tends to change 
the texture of muscle fibers. Hence tough meats must be carefully cooked in 
low heat long applied in order to soften the connective tissue without unduly 
changing the fibers. Cooking, especially in water, presents a further danger, 
namely, the escape into the water of the nutritious material in the meat. In 
cases where the liquid in which the meat is cooked is to be used, as in soups and 
some stews, this is of less importance or it may even be an advantage, but where 
the meat only is to be used the fact must always be taken into consideration. 
Not only is the amount of nutritive material in the meat lessened, but the 
extractives are lost and with them more or less of the flavor the meat originally 
possessed. To lessen the chances of loss, cooks frequently sear the exterior of 
the meat either in hot fat or in boiling water before beginning the long cook- 
ing, or tough meat may be pounded or chopped to break down the tissues to 
a certain extent, and thus permit shorter cooking. Besides using such devices 
to retain and develop the natural flavor of the meat, other flavors may be 
added to supplement them. These may be put into the meat before cooking 
or may be added later in the form of relish or sauce. 

Vegetables of distinctive flavor such as onions, carrots, or celery ; savory 
herbs such as parsley, sage, bay leaf, or thyme; and materials such as vinegar, 
pickles, or currant jelly ; spices such as pepper, cloves, or " curry " mixtures ; and 
sharp or highly seasoned meat sauces are all types of flavoring materials which 
are useful for such purposes and which may be used in a great variety of ways. 

In fact the number of " tasty " dishes which a good cook can make out of 
the cheaper cuts of meat or meat " left over " is almost endless. Undoubtedly 
more time and skill are required in their preparation than in the simple cook- 
ing of the more expensive cuts, just as more time and skill are required for 
careful, intelligent marketing than for haphazard ordering; but the real 
superiority of a good cook lies not so much in the preparation of expensive 
or fancy dishes as in the attractive preparation of inexpensive dishes for 
every day and in the skillful combination of flavors. 

Some housekeepers seem to have a prejudice against economizing in such 
ways as those here suggested ; but, if the comfort of the family does not suffer 
and the meals are kept as varied and appetizing as when they cost more, little 
ground for the feeling exists!* - Surely it is not beneath the dignity of any family 
to avoid useless expenditure, no matter how .generous its income, and the intelli- 
gent housekeeper should take as much pride in setting a good table at a low 
price as the manufacturer does in lessening the cost of production in his factory. 



FARMERS' BULLETINS. 

Bulletins in this list will be sent free, so long as the supply lasts, to any resident 
of the United States, on application to his Senator, Representative, or Dele- 
gate in Congress, or to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Because 
of the limited supply, applicants are urged to select only a few numbers, choosing 
those which are of special interest to them. Residents of foreign countries should 
apply to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, 
D. C, who has these bulletins for sale. Price 5 cents each to Canada, Cuba, and 
Mexico; 6 cents to other foreign countries. The bulletins entitled "Experiment 
Station Work" give briefly the results of experiments performed by tbe State experi- 
ment stations. 

154. The Home Fruit Garden: Preparation and 
Care. 

155. How Insects Affect Health in Rural Districts. 

156. The Home Vineyard. 

157. The Propagation of Plants. 

158. How to Build Small Irrigation Ditches. 
162. Experiment Station Work— XXI. 
164. Rape as a Forage Crop. 

166. Cheese Making on the Farm. 

167. Cassava. 

169. Experiment Station Work— XXII. 

170. Principles of Horse Feeding. 

172. Scale Insects and Mites on Citrus Trees. 

173. Primer of Forestry. Part I: The Forest. 

174. Broom Corn. 

175. Home Manufacture and Use of Unfermented 
Grape Juice. 

176. Cranberry Culture. 

177. Squab Raising. 

178. Insects Injurious in Cranberry Culture. 

179. Horseshoeing. 

181. Pruning. 

182. Poultry as Food. 

183. Meat on the Farm: Butchering, Curing, and 
Keeping. 

185. Beautifying the Home Grounds. 

186. Experiment Station Work— XXIII. 

187. Drainage of Farm Lands. 

188. Weeds Used in Medicine. 
190. Experiment Station Work— XXIV. 

192. Barnvard Manure. 

193. Experiment Station Work— XXV. 

194. Alfalfa Seed. 

195. Annual Flowering Plants. 

196. Usefulness of the American Toad. 

197. Importation of Game Birds and Eggs for 
Propagation. 

198. Strawberries. 

199. Corn Growing. 

200. Turkeys. 

201. Cream Separator on Western Farms. 

202. Experiment Station Work— XXVI. 

203. Canned Fruits, Preserves, and Jellies. 

204. The Cultivation of Mushrooms. 

205. Pig Management. 

206. Milk Fever and Its Treatment. 

209. Controlling the Boll Weevil in Cotton Seed 
and at Ginneries. 

210. Experiment Station Work— XXVII. 
213. Raspberries. 

218. The School Garden. 

219. Lessons from the Grain Rust Epidemic of 
1904. 

220. Tomatoes. 

221. Fungous Diseases of the Cranberry. 

222. Experiment Station Work— XXVIII. 

223. Miscellaneous Cotton Insects in Texas. 

224. Canadian Field Peas. 

225. Experiment Station Work— XXIX. 

227. Experiment Station Work— XXX. 

228. Forest Planting and Farm Management. 

229. The Production of Good Seed Corn. 

231. Spraying for Cucumber and Melon Diseases. 

232. Okra: Its Culture and Uses. 

233. Experiment Station Work— XXXI. 

234. The Guinea Fowl. 

235. Preparation of Cement Concrete. 

236. Incubation and Incubators. 

237. Experiment Station Work— XXXII. 

238. Citrus Fruit Growing in the Gulf States. 

239. The Corrosion of Fence Wire. 

241. Butter Making on the Farm. 

242. An Example of Model Farming. 

243. Fungicides and Their Use in Preventing Dis- 
eases of Fruits. 

244. Experiment Station Work— XXXIII. 



22. The Feeding of Farm Animals. 

27. Flax for Seed and Fiber. 

28. Weeds: And How to Kill Them. 

30. Grape Diseases on the Pacific Coast. 
32. Silos and Silage. 

34. Meats: Composition and Cooking. 

35. Potato Culture. 

36. Cotton Seed and Its Products. 
42. Facts About Milk. 

44. Commercial Fertilizers. 

48. The Manuring of Cotton. 

49. Sheep Feeding. 

51. Standard Varieties of Chickens. 

52. The Sugar Beet. 

54. Some Common Birds. 

55. The Dairy Herd. 

56. Experiment Station Work— I. 

60. Methods of Curing Tobacco. 

61. Asparagus Culture. 

62. Marketing Farm Produce. 

63. Care of Milk on the Farm. 

64. Ducks and Geese. 

65. Experiment Station Work — II. 
69. Experiment Station Work— III. 
73. Experiment Station Work— IV. 

77. The Liming of Soils. 

78. Experiment Station Work— V. 

79. Experiment Station Work— VI. 

81. Corn Culture in the South. 

82. The Culture of Tobacco. 

83. Tobacco Soils. 

84. Experiment Station Work— VII. 

85. Fish as Food. 

86. Thirty Poisonous Plants. 

87. Experiment Station Work— VIII. 

88. Alkali Lands. 

91. Potato Diseases and Treatment. 

92. Experiment Station Work— IX. 

93. Sugar as Food. 

96. Raising Sheep for Mutton. 

97. Experiment Station Work— X. 
99. Insect Enemies of Shade Trees. 

100. Hog Raising in the South. 

101. Millets. 

103. Experiment Station Work— XL 

104. Notes on Frost. 

105. Experiment Station Work— XII. 

106. Breeds of Dairy Cattle. 

110. Rice Culture in the United States. 

113. The Apple and How to Grow It. 

114. Experiment Station Work— XIV. 

118. Grape Growing in the South. 

119. Experiment Station Work— XV. 

120. Insects Affecting Tobacco. 

121. Beans, Peas, and Other Legumes as Food. 

122. Experiment Station Work — XVI. 
124. Experiment Station Work— XVII. 

126. Practical Suggestions for Farm Buildings. 

127. Important Insecticides. 

128. Eggs and Their Uses as Food. 

131. Household Tests for Detection of Oleomar- 
garine and Renovated Butter. 

133. Experiment Station Work— XVIII. 

134. Tree Planting on Rural School Grounds. 

135. Sorghum Sirup Manufacture. 

137. The Angora Goat. 

138. Irrigation in Field and Garden. 

139. Emmer: A Grain for the Semiarid Regions. 

140. Pineapple Growing. 

142. Principles of Nutrition and Nutritive Value 
of Food. 

144. Experiment Station Work — XIX. 

145. Carbon Bisulphid as an Insecticide. 

149. Experiment Station Work— XX. 

150. Clearing New Land. 
152. Scabies of Cattle. 



(I) 



II 



245. Renovation of Worn-out Soils. 

246. Saccharine Sorghums for Forage. 

248. The Lawn. 

249. Cereal Breakfast Foods. 

250. The Prevention of Stinking Smut of Wheat 

and Loose Smut of Oats. 

251. Experiment Station Work— XXXIV. 

252. Maple Sugar and Sirup. 

253. The Germination of Seed Corn. 

254. Cucumbers. 

255. The Home Vegetable Garden. 

256. Preparation of Vegetables for the Table. 

257. Soil Fertility. 

258. Texas or Tick Fever and Its Prevention. 

259. Experiment Station Work— XXXV. 

260. Seed of Red Clover and Its Impurities. 

262. Experiment Station Work— XXXVI. 

263. Practical Information for Beginners in Irri- 

gation. 

261. The Brown-tail Moth and How to Control It. 

266. Management of Soils to Conserve Moisture. 

267. Experiment Station Work— XXXVII. 

268. Industrial Alcohol: Sources and Manufac- 

ture. 

269. Industrial Alcohol: Uses and Statistics. 

270. Modern Conveniences for the Farm Home. 

271. Forage Crop Practices in Western Oregon 

and Western Washington. 

272. A Successful Hog and Seed-corn Farm. 

273. Experiment Station Work— XXXVIII. 

274. Flax Culture. 

275. The Gipsy Moth and How to Control It. 

276. Experiment Station Work— XXXIX. 

277. The Use of Alcohol and Gasoline in Farm 

Engines. 

278. Leguminous Crops for Green Manuring. 

279. A Method of Eradicating Johnson Grass. 

280. A Profitable Tenant Dairy Farm. 

281. Experiment Station Work— XL. 

282. Celery. 

283. Spraying for Apple Diseases and the Codling 

Moth in the Ozarks. 

284. Insect and Fungous Enemies of the Grape 

East of the Rocky Mountains. 

285. The Advantage of Planting Heavy Cotton 

Seed. 

286. Comparative Value of Whole Cotton Seed 

and Cotton-seed Meal in Fertilizing Cotton. 

287. Poultry Management. 

288. Nonsaccharine Sorghums. 

289. Beans. 

290. The Cotton Bollworm. 

291. Evaporation of Apples. 

292. Cost of Filling Silos. 

293. Use of Fruit as Food. 

294. Farm Practice in theColumbia Basin Uplands. 

295. Potatoes and Other Root Crops as Food. 

296. Experiment Station Work— XLI. 

298. Food Value of Corn and Corn Products. 

299. Diversified Farming Under the Plantation 

System. 

300. Some Important Grasses and Forage Plants 

for the Gulf Coast Region. 

301. Home-grown Tea. 

302. Sea Island Cotton: Its Culture, Improve- 

ment, and Diseases. 

303. Corn Harvesting Machinery. 

304. Growing and Curing Hops. 

305. Experiment Station Work— XLII. 

306. Dodder in Relation to Farm Seeds. 

307. Roselle: Its Culture and Uses. 

309. Experiment Station Work— XLIII. 

310. A Successful Alabama Diversification Farm. 

311. Sand-clay and Burnt-clay Roads. 

312. A Successful Southern Hay Farm. t 

313. Harvesting and Storing Corn. 

314. A Method of Breeding Early Cotton t<y Es- 

cape Boll- weevil Damage. 

315. Progress in Legume Inoculation. 

316. Experiment Station Work— XLIV. 

317. Experiment Station Work— XLV. 

318. Cowpeas. 

319. Demonstration Work in Cooperation with 

Southern Farmers. 

320. Experiment Station Work— XLVI. 

321. The Use of the Split-log Dragon Earth Roads. 

322. Milo as a Dry-land Grain Crop. 



323. 

324. 
325. 
326. 
328. 
329. 
330. 
331. 

332. 

333. 
334. 
335. 

337. 

338. 
339. 
341. 
342. 
343. 

344. 

345. 
346. 

347. 
348. 
349. 
350. 
351. 
352. 
353. 
364. 
355. 
356. 
357. 

358. 

359. 
360. 
361. 
362. 

363. 
364. 
365. 

366. 
367. 
368. 

369. 
370. 
371. 
372. 
373. 
374. 
375. 
376. 
377. 
378. 

379. 
380. 
381, 
382. 
383. 
384. 
385 
386 

387 

388 
389 
390 
391 
392 
893 
394 

395 
396 



o 



Clover Farming on the Sandy Jack-pine 
Lands of the North. 

Sweet Potatoes. 

Small Farms in the Corn Belt. 

Building Up a Run-down Cotton Plantation. 

Silver Fox Farming. 

Experiment Station Work— XLVII. 

Deer Farming in the United States. 

Forage Crops for Hogs in Kansas and Okla- 
homa. 

Nuts and Their Uses as Food. 

Cotton Wilt. 

Experiment Station Work— XLVIII. 

Harmful and Beneficial Mammals of the 
Arid Interior. 

Cropping Systems for New England Dairy 
Farms. 

Macadam Roads. 

Alfalfa. 

The Basket Willow. 

Experiment Station Work — XLIX. 

The Cultivation of Tobacco in Kentucky 
and Tennessee. 

The Boll Weevil Problem, with Special Refer- 
ence to Means of Reducing Damage. 

Some Common Disinfectants. 

The Computation of Rations for Farm Ani- 
mals by the Use of Energy Values. 

The Repair of Farm Equipment. 

Bacteria in Milk. 

The Dairy Industry in the South. 

The Dehorning of Cattle. 

The Tuberculin Testof Cattle forTuberculosis. 

The Nevada Mouse Plague of 1907-8. 

Experiment Station Work — L. 

Onion Culture. 

A Successful Poultry and Dairy Farm. 

Peanuts. 

Methods of Poultry Management at theMaine 
Agricultural Experiment Station. 

A Primer of Forestry. Partll: Practical For- 
estry. 

Canning Vegetables in the Home. 

Experiment Station Work — LI. 

Meadow Fescue: Its Culture and Uses. 

Conditions Affecting the Value of Market 
Hay. 

The Use of Milk as Food. 

A Profitable Cotton Farm. 

Farm Management in Northern Potato- 
growing Sections. 

Experiment Station Work — LII. 

Lightning and Lightning Conductors. 

The Eradication of Bindweed, or Wild Morn- 
ing-glory 

How to Destroy Rats. 

Replanning a Farm for Profit. 

Drainage of Irrigated Lands. 

Soy Beans. 

Irrigation of Alfalfa. 

Experiment Station Work — LIII. 

Care of Food in the Home. 

Game Laws for 1909. 

Harmfulness of Headache Mixtures. 

Methods of Exterminating the Texas-fever 
Tick. 

Hog Cholera. 

The Loco-weed Disease. 

Experiment Station Work — LIV. 

The Adulteration of Forage-plant Seeds. 

How to Destroy English Sparrows. 

Experiment Station Work — LV. 

Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs. 

Potato Culture on Irrigated Farms of the 
West. 

The Preservative Treatment of Farm Tim- 
bers. 

Experiment Station Work— LVI. 

Bread and Bread Making. 

Pheasant Raising in the United States. 

Economical Use of Meat in the Home. 

Irrigation of Sugar Beets. 

Habit-forming Agents. 

The Use of Windmills in Irrigation in the 
Semiarid West. 

Sixty-day and Kherson Oats. 

The Mus'krat 



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